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Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers made history this weekend at the Miss Universe Great Britain pageant.
Saturday, Kentish-Rogers, became the first Black woman to be crowned Miss Universe Great Britain since the pageant’s inception in 1952.
The 25-year-old beauty queen is from Anguilla, a British territory, and will represent both Anguilla and the United Kingdom at the international Miss Universe competition, which will take place in the Philippines this December.
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“It’s really humbling and I think it’s also a privilege for me to become the first Black woman who is crowned Miss Universe Great Britain,” she told BuzzFeed News.
Aside from being the land of the world’s most insatiable colonizers, the UK has also had a long history of being color struck, with lighter complexioned/mixed race Black women being more prominently featured when it comes to visibility and standards of beauty. This issue exists world wide but Kentish-Rogers hopes her win is a signal that the tide is changing in Britain.
“I believe that this is the direction that the pageant has been going in for the last couple of years because Britain is a diverse nation, we are a multicultural society and it is time that that diversity is seen on a stage where other young Black girls and girls of all ethnicities can see that this is something for everybody not just some of us.”
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Dee-Ann Kentish-Rodgers: The new Miss Universe Great Britain! 😍
She is the first black woman to hold the title and will go on to represent Great Britain internationally on the Miss Universe stage. Congratulations, @AsToldBy_Dee! 👏🏾 pic.twitter.com/rIXn3lExPg
— Dionne Grant (@DionneGrant) July 15, 2018
She previously told Pageants News that she believes she may also be the first woman to compete in Miss Universe Great Britain with locs.
“To my knowledge, I am the first dreadlocked woman to walk across a Miss Universe Great Britain stage and that is absolutely most exciting to me,” she said.
Her win was no small feat considering she competed in Newport, Wales, against 40 other women from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British overseas territories.
In addition to competing in pageants, she is a competitive athlete, winning a silver medal in the heptathlon in the Central American and Caribbean Games and a bronze medal in the CARIFTA Games. However, she was forced to cease her athletic training after sustaining a knee injury.
The national director for Miss Universe Great Britain, Paula Abbandonato, told BuzzFeed that she is “absolutely delighted” by Kentish-Rogers’ triumph.
“I took over this role in 2008 and I can honestly say there is no better gift [than] having our first Black winner to celebrate 10 years in the job,” she said. “Dee-Ann is a true role model for all women of all skin colors and with her dynamism off the stage, coupled with her presence on the stage, I genuinely believe Great Britain has a chance at the Miss Universe crown this year.”
Congratulations @AsToldBy_Dee. Queennnn!!! #BlackExcellence #BlackGirlMagic 😍🔥👑 pic.twitter.com/9EWaJoXDek
— Keivaneé💜 (@OhSnapitskeiva) July 15, 2018
https://twitter.com/AsToldBy_Dee/status/1018805410659274754