Continuation of College Heights Herald article "Pageant Shows 'Positive Aspect of Black Women'."
Franklin senior and AKA member Nikita Stewart, who organized the Miss Black Western Pageant, said the personal narrative category sets it apart from traditional beauty pageants.
"This category gives the contestants a chance to show their understanding of themselves as black women both in the African-American community and the world," Stewart said.
AKA started the pageant 23 years ago because there weren't many black women competing in the Miss Western Kentucky University Pageant, Stewart said.
Pageants like Miss Black Western show that you don't have to have blonde hair and blue eyes to be beautiful, Harper said:
"The few black women that have won national beauty titles are helping to show that we have a different type of beauty," she said.
Pageant contestant Kim Harper, a sophomore from Gallatin, Tenn., said the spirit of friendly competition made the pageant more enjoyable.
"I got along with the other girls so well that it didn't feel like was in competition with them," she said.