After my few minutes of looking at the Miss Universe show last night, I had little doubt that the Miss Universe 2011 would be miss Angola. I was late, when i switched the top ten beauties were being selected. As the cameras rolled, it was obvious to me who the front runners would be. I said to my mom, “OMG her black is beautiful.” I thought Miss China was outstanding also. However, the dreaded question segment often sets the beautiful with brains and confidence apart from the others.
Leila Lopes, 25, was born in Angola’s Benguela Province and is studying business management in Great Britain. She Won the Miss Angola U.K. pageant on Oct. 8, 2010. She is a natural beauty and her three beauty tips are to get lots of sleep, use sunblock whether it is sunny or not, and drink lots of water to stay beautiful.
She is the first woman from Angola, the second Black African woman and the fourth black woman to be crowned Miss Universe. The first Black African was Mpule Kwelagobe of Botswana 1999. The Caribbean’s first and world’s first black Miss Universe was Trinidad & Tobago’s Janelle Commissiong in 1977 and the latest is Wendy Fitzwilliam 1998.
Leila Addressed the issue of tolerance in the competition, she said: “Any racist needs to seek help. It’s not normal in the 21st century to think in that way.” How deep is that statement?
This beauty inside and obviously outside, is a Linguist. She spoke to the pageant judges in Portuguese, the official language of Angola, and Brazil, where the pageant was held. In response to the judges question, if there were anything that she would change about her physical appearance? Her response in a soft beautiful voice was:
“I wouldn’t change a thing. I am endowed with inner beauty. I have my principles. I have acquired many wonderful principles from my family,” She then added “Respect one another.”
How about taking this win as a sign that there is hope for many more black beauties to shine in the pageant world and as a motivator to get in shape physically and mentally?
Congratulations Laila!
Your thoughts?
