Creating Circles of Unity… SYRACUSE’s very own
Miss America BY FARAH F. JADRAN I PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE MISS AMERICA ORGANIZATION
We’ve all seen it and we’ll never forget it, whether you saw it live or the next morning on local TV stations. If you watched it live on ABC on Sept. 16, 2013, it went like this… Four runners up in ornate gowns were called and walked away from center stage. Finally, it came down to Miss California Crystal Lee and Miss New York Nina Davuluri. In Atlantic City, they stood there, face-to-face, waiting to hear which young woman would be crowned Miss America 2014. Ultimately, the announcer revealed that 24-year-old Nina was the new title-holder, but there was more to this win than many viewers saw coming.
WEATHERING THE TWITTER STORM It is now well known that Nina had countless social media notifications (mentions) building up as soon as she was taking her first walk with the title and crown — there is much to be learned from the storm that brewed during the competition. After winning the pageant as the first Miss America of Indian descent, Nina has had much time to reflect on the special moment, but also her journey this far. The swirling negative and evidently racist comments, mostly in the Twittersphere, were not new to Nina. “I did experience it on a much smaller scale as Miss New York,” she said. And in many ways, she said she expected it as she moved further along into the finals of the pageant. However, the expectation of backlash was the last thing on Nina’s mind. She was on a mission, and remaining positive throughout the process made it possible for her to compete well and, ultimately, win the crown. “For every one negative tweet, comment or post, I received hundreds, and now thousands, of positive ones from across the country and around the world.” Nina’s early childhood was spent in Fayetteville, N.Y., and she was raised in the Midwest since she was 4 years old, but has reclaimed Syracuse and the Central New York area as her home almost three years ago. Her family still resides in the eastern suburbs. No matter where she has been or what pageant title she was after, Nina said she was always running into some form of negativity due to her ethnicity. “I grew up with stereotypes all my life,” Nina said. Because she was competing in the Miss America Organization’s pageant competitions,
she was required to choose a platform that she would essentially lead and live by. That in mind, Nina chose “Celebrating Diversity Through Cultural Competency,” which describes the change she is working to ignite. “It lifted my heart,” she said. Nina was named Miss Greater Rochester in 2012. Rochester Woman Magazine was on the scene the night she was crowned as Co-Publisher Kelly Breuer served as one of the judges for the competition. Nina was already leading the way with her platform to help her community when she was competing in Rochester. “Diversity is the backbone of America,” she said proudly. “It’s been a wonderful way for me to bring awareness and educate our youth to build a more inclusive society.” Nina says this is just one way she will communicate with younger generations. One of the best points of view that Nina shared with me in one of our most recent conversations is this: “Change can start with one person.” She’s right. If we’re settled in accepting racism, discrimination and negativity in our nation, then what are we working toward? And second, what are we living for? Nina has said many times since winning her title that the “girl next door” is evolving. “This is one way for me to reach out to young girls and children…they can say, ‘Wow, she looks like me and I can relate to her,’” Nina explained. With this mission in mind, she is taking social media into her own hands and straying away from those days of Twitter terror. Nina created a hash tag for her platform (#CirclesOfUnity) and has been asking everyone to tweet pictures, thoughts and videos about unity. “It’s a different conversation,” she said. It is definitely a much different conversation than many were having the night she won. There is no negativity or “hating” here. Instead, it’s about hope and unity among fellow Americans, and beyond. “Social media is a new tool,” she said. What is the silver lining of the negative tweets and posts once spawned? “The silver lining is that it sheds more light [on the issues] and brings awareness,” Nina said.
ONE MOMENT IN TIME Her family was in the crowd watching Nina advance to each level of finalists. A trip sure to be made after Nina’s father missed her Miss New York crowning because he was on call at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Syracuse. rochesterWomanMag.com :: january 2013
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