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November 1, 1990
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Spelman Women Take The Cake
By Angela Black
One night, I was changing
channels on my TV trying to find
something good to watch when I came
across a pageant. I almost changed
channels again until I realized that the
pageant was for African-American
women. For this reason, my interest
peaked.
I had decided to keep watching
when I saw the faces of two
contestants, former Miss Blue and
White, Camarf Walker, and former
Miss Maroon and White, Kristine
Jones. I was very proud, as a Spelman
woman, to be represented in the
pageant by two of my Spelman sisters.
My pride grew when I realized
that the pageant was an exhibition of
the talented and beautiful queens of
America’s African-American Colleges
and Universities.
The pageant was founded in 1984
as the Miss Collegiate Black American
Pageant by Frank Mercado as a means
of displaying the many talents of
young women who represent America’s
Black Colleges and Universities.
The first Miss Collegiate Black
American, crowned in 1985, was A. J.
Johnson, Miss Maroon and White at
the time and a student from Spelman
College. A.J. is presently a star in the
hit movie "House Party" and former
choreographer for the fly girls on "In
Living Color."
Cereesa Longest, another Spelman
woman, has also worn the crown of
Miss Black Collegiate.
In 1990, the pageant’s name was
changed to the Miss Collegiate African-
American Pageant in recognition of our
people’s determination to identify more
closely with Africa.
Tile goal of Miss Collegiate
African-American is to encourage
African-American women to "... set
goals and try to achieve them. . . "
This summer, 28 queens of
African-American institutions gathered
in Hollywood, California to attempt to
achieve their goal of being crowned
Miss Collegiate African-American.
The women spent ten competitive
days in Hollywood representing their
colleges and universities to the best of
their ability. Each winner was hoping
to be one of the ten finalists announced
during the televised pageant on June
24, 1990.
It was not all competition and no
play. The women did participate in
various fun activities. Kristine Jones
thoroughly enjoyed those ten days. "I
made some friends that I’ll probably
have for the rest of my life," she said.
The pageant was held in
Hollywood’s Aquarius Theater, home of
Star Search, and was co-hosted by
former Miss America, Suzette Charles
and actor Mario Van Peeples.
Among the judges were Cree
Summer of "A Different World",
Suzanne DePasse of Motown Records,
Danny Glover of "The Color Purple"
and comedian Dick Gregory.
The thought of changing channels
had completely vanished from my mind
by now because all finalists were
required to present a talent and I was
anxious to see what my Spelman
sisters were going to do.
Kristine and Camarf’s
representations of Spelman would have
made Harriet Giles and Sophia Packard
very proud.
Kristine used the extraordinary
voice that God gave her to sing a
beautiful piece entitled "O Patria Mia"
from the opera Aida by Guseppi Verdi.
Camarf displayed her admirable
acting abilities by performing an
emotional yet uplifting excerpt from
Winnie Mandela’s autobiography, "Part
of My Soul Went With Him."
During the question and answer
session, both Camarf and Kristine
exhibited intelligence, leadership and
concern for their fellow brothers and
sisters.
The time had come for the judges
to make their decision on who would
represent all of America’s African-
American Colleges and Universities. I
just knew that one of my Spelman
sisters would win. I was so excited,
proud and very nervous.
However, I was not as nervous as
the ten finalists. Each was praying
that she would be crowned Miss
Collegiate African-American and win
the prestigious prizes which included:
two round-trip tickets from Eastern
Airlines to any destination, a tour of
America’s African-American
institutions, a trip to Africa, $10,000, a
wardrobe made especially for her and
$25,000 given to the institution she
represents.
And the winners were . . . Camarf
Walker, Second Attendant; Kristine
Jones, First Attendant; and Mary Ann
Palmer from Prairie View A & M was
crowned Miss Collegiate African-
American 1990-1991. Camarf was
awarded $1000 and Kristine was
awarded $2000 and two round-trip
tickets from Eastern Airlines to any
destination.
I was glad that I didn’t keep
changing channels. I was very proud
to see both Kristine and Camarf
represent all Spelmanites on a national
level with such grace, poise, talent and
maturity.
"The most important thing," says
Kristine, "is that African-American
women, Morehouse and Spelman
Colleges, and Atlanta, Georgia were
well represented. .
Kristine, thanks to you and
Camarf, we sure were.
Sinbad In The AUC
By Timothy Thomas
Special to the Spotlight
Sinbad, the popular comedian who
appears weekly on TV’s "A Different
World," spent the few days before the
taping of his HBO comedy special at
Morehouse getting to know AUC
students.
On the day ofifthe first taping he
was profiling aloqg with everyone else
in front of Speifeams Manley Center.
That night he was back in his
professional mode.
"His comedy is funny to my
husband and I. We love him", said
Mrs. Stinson, 50, waiting outside of
Morehouse’s King Chapel on the
campus of Morehouse College before
the taping of Sinbad’s HBO Comedy
Special.
Crowds of people of different age
groups cluttered outside the doors to
the lobby, waiting to see the brand new
comedy of Sinbad.
Michelle Wilson, a high school
student in the neighboring area, said, "I
don’t care if he is funny or not; he is
so fine."
The show opened with Kim Cole,
former star of the new comedy show,
"In Living Color."
Her opening monologue was about
the way men just never give up. She
even recreated Spelman women fighting
over carrot cake in the cafeteria.
A young man attempted to
challenge Kim’s humor by quick
responses to her negative statements
but he was not quick enough for the
up and coming comedian. He soon sat
down in defeat.
The audience was then ready for
the star performer. The stage was
designed with pictures of Sinbad and
relics resembling downtown Peachtree
Street.
The crowd began to clap and out
came "A Different World’s" star
Sinbad. "This crowd is not ready"
quotes Sinbad. The audience was not
standing, no one was screaming. He
started all over again.
Smoke filled the stage. Hashing
lights circled the room. The chant
"The House" rang out in umson, then
out came Sinbad dancing to the bass
sounds of "House music." He appeared
with his three dancers moving on time
behind him.
The crowd was now on their feet,
throwing their arms and hands in the
air as they move their bodies to the
beats. It was show time, live at
Morehouse College.
Sinbad made the statement that
people don’t get up off their seats for
comedians, but they will get up for
music stars, that cannot dance.
Dressed in a red shirt, blue vest and
blue and black pants, he imitated R&B
performer Keith Sweat.
As a graduate from a
predominately white university in
Colorado, he commented on their
football halftime highlights, compared
to those of a Black College.
Sinbad talked about being a college
student, and understanding the true
definition of the word "broke."
Sinbad based most of his jokes toward
the student crowd.
Most people in the front were
saying, "I know what you mean!"
His humor made upperclass
students feel bad, as he proved that
they are not as prepared as the
freshman students when it comes to
supplies.
Gregory Douglas says, "You can
definitely tell he was a poor college
student, trying to relate to us while we
are in our struggling years."
Douglas feels Sinbad is preaching
to him.
The show lasted approximately two
short hours. The audience spent most
of their time holding their stomachs
and laughing their way into the
person’s seat next to them.
One lady stated, "I didn’t know he
would be this funny." There were no
moments of silence throughout his
special.
"Sinbad tries to reach everyone
with his jokes," said Anthony Lacy. He
went on to say "Everyone should look
for it on HBO when it comes on."
Mike Collier said, "If you want to
hear some excellent comedy, young
and old should go see Sinbad, Live!"
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