Seven young women vied for the Miss Black Orangeburg USA 2007 title at the W.V. Middleton Auditorium at Claflin University Sunday night, and it was Edrian Wright of Orangeburg who captured the crown. Her platform was breast cancer awareness.
The theme of the event was “Ain’t I a Woman.” The pageant was a celebration of life, legacy and love, not only in the local community, but throughout the world. The pageant was also a tribute to Sojourner Truth, former slave, abolitionist, preacher and women’s rights advocate.
The Miss Black Teen Orangeburg USA 2007 also took place during the program. Kimberly Purdy, a 15-year-old student at Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School, was the winner. Purdy recently made the O-W cheerleading team and also likes to dance.
After individual interviews held earlier in the day, contestants for Miss Black Orangeburg competed in the talent, evening wear, fitness wear and a question-and-answer session for the coveted crown and the chance to compete for Miss Black South Carolina USA in August.
In addition to becoming Miss Black Orangeburg for 2007, Edrian Wright was the biggest winner of the evening. She won the talent competition for doing a rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” She also received first place in the Fitness, Interview and People’s Choice categories.
Wright is a biological science major at Clemson University who wants to become a trauma surgeon. Her other interests include singing, dancing and meeting new people.
Latasha Esaw, a 23-year-old mass communication and broadcast journalism major at Claflin University whose platform for the contest was abstinence, performed a lyrical dance to the song “Till You Believe.” She has plans to become a TV news anchor. Esaw was the first runner-up and tied with Wright for first place in the evening gown competition.
Several South Carolina State University students were among the contestants. Erica Flint, a 22-year-old senior who is majoring in economics, wants to become a successful businesswoman. For the talent portion of the program, she recited the poem “Lord, Why Did You Make Me Black?” Her platform was diabetes awareness; she was second runner-up and community service winner.
Flint also received the Business Ladies at Work award for selling the most advertisements for the program.
Regina Knight, a graduate student in speech and language pathology at S.C. State whose platform was mental illness awareness, recited a poem titled “When a Man Loves a Woman.” Knight won the Miss Photogenic award.
Another contestant used a poem for her talent presentation. Annie Williams, 23, performed a recitation of “Sister, My Sister.” She graduated from SCSU with a B.S. degree in mathematics and wants to become a teacher.
S.C. State graduate Tiffany Gantt, who received a B.S. degree in criminal justice, plans to work in a juvenile diversion program, which was also her platform. Gantt, who is in the U.S. Air Force, tied with another contestant, Sarah Stroman, for Miss Congeniality. Stroman is currently enrolled in the nursing degree program at Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College and aspires to become a successful nurse. In addition to tying for Miss Congeniality, she promoted overcoming low self-esteem in overweight women for her contest platform.
During the program, two Visionary Awards for African American women were presented by Desiree Lewis, 2006 Miss Black Orangeburg who went on to win Miss Black South Carolina last summer. The first award went to Veronica Primus-Thomas, a special needs teacher who originated the STAAR, or Serious Teens and Adults Acting Responsibly program. The second recipient was 96-year-old Geraldyne Zimmerman. Lewis described Zimmerman as “an outstanding educator who dedicated her life to inspiring hundreds of young men and women to study mathematics.” Zimmerman also worked with the Girl Scouts in many capacities for more than 50 years.
As Miss Black South Carolina, Desiree Lewis will travel to Gambia next month for the coveted Miss Black USA title. She said she goes to Washington, D.C., on May 20 for interviews and then on to Gambia on May 23. Lewis is a first-grade teacher at Mellichamp Elementary School in Orangeburg.
Miss Black Orangeburg is a working crown. In addition to competing for the Miss Black South Carolina title in August, her job responsibilities include serving as a program ambassador and public relations representative, articulating her platform position and personality in a manner of public interest and representing commercial sponsors. She is also expected to encourage other young women to hone their own talents.
Judges in the contest were Kizzy Rivers, a program coordinator at Claflin University; Karen Jenkins, an accounting representative at McKesson in Charleston and Carol Gibbs, a graduate student at Springfield College in North Charleston.
Entertainment during the program was modern dance by Marissa Southerland.
T&D Correspondent Loretta Demko can be reached by e-mail at eeshtenem@yahoo.com. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.