Not everybody gets the chance to compete for a national pageant title on their 25th birthday.
“At first [I was] disappointed, because on your birthday you expect to have an unforgettable celebration!” Katori Brown, Miss Black DC USA told K Street Kate. “But then I realized that I could never forget my 25th birthday — the birthday when I competed for the title of Miss Black USA.”
At the National Competition last Sunday, held in DC at the Lincoln Theatre, Brown a Mass Communications and Media Studies major from Howard University, joined black beauties representing states across the nation for a final night of competition and crowning. “I didn’t really have time to get nervous. Everything seemed to happen so quickly! Before I knew it, we were doing the final walk.” And being called in the Top 15 was an extra special birthday gift. “I’m sure people in the very back row could see me cheesing on stage when they called me forward.”
But Brown didn’t quite get everything she wished for on her birthday candles… Ocielia Gibson (Texas) took home the title. “Of course, I wish it was me, but I know [Ocielia] will do a fantastic job.”
