The Miss Juneteenth Pageant in Anchorage comes with the usual trappings of sashes and crowns, and evening gown and talent competitions — but it emphasizes individuality and empowerment for young Black girls.
Oumie Hydara, left, Sentha Wright, center, and Amaya Murphy, right, prepare to go on stage to perform their opening group routine during the Miss Juneteenth Pageant in Anchorage on Saturday.
“You can have all of the initiative to make a difference in your community, but if nobody is brave enough to show up, then it means nothing,” said Tamara Brown, who organized the pageant. “It’s bone chilling ... there’s no words to describe that feeling for .” “It was really important for me to make that a requisite,” Brown said. “It’s important for our girls to break out of what they feel like people want to see from them. ... There’s a way to be Black and be proud of who you are in a professional setting just like there is with any other culture.”
Although Juneteenth was only recently acknowledged on a federal level, people in Anchorage have been celebrating it on and off since the 1980s. Shayne Wright, Brown and Smith have been working hard to build up and increase visibility of the pageant. The trio hopes its renewal will give young Black girls a safe space to celebrate their identity and showcase their African heritage, something the pageant organizers didn’t always have a chance to do when they were growing up.
This year’s pageant was the first pageant any of the girls have competed in, and pride spilled from Brown, the pageant director, as she cheered for them offstage.Murphy, 14. “All the preparation, it’s really kind of cool to me.”
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