Famous Women: Miss Universe 1977
Posted on July 28, 2007
Filed Under Women Leaders | 11 Comments
FAMOUS WOMEN: MISS UNIVERSE 1977
By Alejandro Guevara Onofre
1977 was the year of the Snake in the Chinese Horoscope. Certainly, was a good year for those people who were born in the years 1929, 1941 and 1953.Trinidad Tobago has been known as one of the most beautiful countries in the Third World, but the Caribbean Island is also the birthplace of the first black Miss Universe Pageant in the History. Her name: Janelle Penny Commissiong.
In 1953 Janelle “Penny” Commissiong, the daughter of Venezuelan mother and Trinidadian father, came into the world in Port of Spain, Trinidad Tobago, a country very famous for its music and athletes as Ato Bolton and Hasely Crawford. In the 1960s she moved with her family to the United States.
In New York City, she studied fashion designer at the Fashion Institute of Technology. But she returned to Port of Spain in 1976, year where Miss Trinidad and Tobago, Margaret Elizabeth McFarlane, won the Miss Congeniality Title. Next year, Janelle Commissiong had been selected to represent the Island at the 1977 Miss Universe Competition in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
During the Miss Universe Beauty Pageant Miss TT was very popular, but was not favorite for the title. Miss Austria, Eva Maria Duringer, was a big favorite until last second.She looks like Farrah Fawcett, an actress best known for her role on Tv’s Charly Angel’s in the 1970s.Other favorites were Miss Colombia, Aura Maria Mojica, an exotic girl from Cali; and Miss Nicaragua, Beatriz Lacayo Obregon, a spectacular Latin Barbie from Managua. But none favorite did not speak English very well.
Miss Trinidad-Tobago was elected Miss Photogenic 4 days before the final. She was the second black woman to win the award in the Miss Universe History. On July 16th, in the National Theater of Santo Domingo, Janelle Commissiong was awesome in the semifinal and final. It was a very good day for her. Miss Austria did not show the same talent compared to Miss TT. Minutes later Janelle Commissiong was crowded Miss Universe.
Miss Trinidad and Tobago attracted international attention in 1977 because she was crowded as the first black in the chronology of Miss Universe. At the end of the transmission, via satellite, the Trinidadian celebrated the triumph of Janelle Commissiong. Port of Spain was a carnival. Every newspaper had the same story. The New York Times said that “Miss Universe 1977 was a black bombshell”. Certainly, the world did not have a black Miss Universe until 1977.
There were 12 judges: Oscar de La Renta (Dominican designer), Dionne Warwick (American singer), Gordon Parks (American photographer), Roberto Cavalli (designer from Italy), Marisol Malaret (formerly Miss Universe), Wihelmina (designer from the Netherlands) and other personalities. When Janelle was crowded as Miss Universe, Dionne Warwick said “I felt as If I had won”.
After her reign, she had an interview with Joaquin Balaguer, President of the Dominican Republic (a fan of Miss Universe Pageant) in the National Palace. Like Miss Universe, she visited many nations around the world: from Iceland, Argentina, Hong Kong, Peru, Puerto Rico to the United States.
In 1978 Janelle went to Chile, where she was a special judge at the “Miss Beaches of South American”. During her reign, she had been an advocate for black’s rights and the world peace. She wants to meet with Idi Amin Dada, one of the worst dictators of the 20th Century.
Like Roberto Clemente, Mary Eugenia Charles, Marlene Ottey, Billy Ocean and Tim Duncan, She is an icon in the Caribbean…
Watch the video related to famous black women history
www.helpingourteengirls.org List of Famous black women throughout history
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About Author
I am a writer about Third World issues (human rights, biographies, culture, history, olympic sport, democracy, women´s rights).
I have many books (Mundototal, Power and Woman, and History of Women in the United States) and essays (Dictatorship and Woman:The First Lady of the Cuban Revolution, Taiwan:Democracy and Human Development, Culture and Dictatorships, Fidel Castro and Sport, Pol Pot·, Robert Mugabe and Dictatorship, Indira Gandhi and Alberto Fujimori:The Last Dictatorship. I have studies in Journalism, Political Science and International Relations.
Interests and Hobbies:
My hobbies and interests are writing essays, going to the gym, browsing the Internet, Foreign Politics, learning about cultures, reading (my favourite writer is Juan Gasparini from Argentina), cooking Peruvian food, listening to American and British Music (my favourite singer is Barry White). My personal motto is the future is for those people who believe in the beauty of their dreams by Eleanor Roosevelt…My heroes are Frida Kahlo (Mexican painter), Mpule Kwelagobe (ex Miss Universe and currently Anti-AIDS activist), Bono, Dian Fossey, Jimmy Carter, Oprah Winfrey,Hernando de Soto, Javier Perez de Cuellar and Mario Vargas Llosa…
My dream is to become an international reporter….
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11 Responses to “Famous Women: Miss Universe 1977”
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Lovely dedication to our black women
marion jones needs to be taken off, freakin cheater. I was sooo pissed since i looked up to her
i only know Rosa Parks , Harriet Tubman, and i guess Soujourner Truth(i dont know if her name is right her name just gets thrown in there with the group usually)
Charles Richard Drew (Doctor)
Ralph Ellison (Writer)
James Baldwin (Playwright)
Malcolm X (Activist)
Harry Belafonte (Actor)
Ossie Davis (Actor)
Charlie Parker (Musician)
Pharoah Hatshepsut
I like questions like this. I believe that BHM should be removed. It is actually an insult to blacks. Think about it for a moment…
This country was build on the back of slaves. Black history in America is American History. People act like it happened at a totally different time than what is taught in US history. Why separate it.
On to Obama. Blacks will never be viewed as "equal" in America (generally speaking). He could do the best job possible and be the best thing to happen to this nation, but he will always be looked upon diferently because he is black.
Also, please remember, he is doing well because Americans are getting tired of the SSDD going on in Washington DC.
Gwendolyn Brooks (first Black woman Pulitzer Prize winner for poetry); Maya Angelou (Black poet)
Henry Garnet (favorite)
Toussaint L'Ouverture
Nat Turner
Denmark Vessie
Madison Washington
Joseph Cinque
… "The gross inconsistency of a people holding slaves, who had themselves "ferried o'er the wave" for freedom's sake, was too apparent to be entirely overlooked. The voice of Freedom cried, "Emancipate your slaves." Humanity supplicated with tears for the deliverance of the children of Africa. Wisdom urged her solemn plea. The bleeding captive plead his innocence, and pointed to Christianity who stood weeping at the cross. Jehovah frowned upon the nefarious institution, and thunderbolts, red with vengeance, struggled to leap forth to blast the guilty wretches who maintained it. But all was in vain. Slavery had stretched its dark wings of death over the land, the Church stood silently by — the priests prophesied falsely, and the people loved to have it so. Its throne is established, and now it reigns triumphant" …
— Henry Garnet
Oprah is an actress and weather reporter. Find someone who actually contributed to black history, such as it is: Maya Angelou, Sojouner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Gwendoly Brooks, Hallie Quinn Brown,Shirley Chisholm, Alice Dunbar-Nelson. These women contributed something. Stay away from entertainers. THey are fleeting, at best. GO with one of substance. When I was teaching if I got a report on a sports figure of actress, I did not feel that the person got the idea.