Dear Editor,

I wish to add my own personal congratulations to Toni-Ann Singh on her historic accomplishment in becoming Miss World 2019 — Jamaica’s fourth title-holder in the 69 years history of the global beauty pageant.

Whether one subscribes to the ethos of beauty pageants or not, there can be no denying that Singh’s positive showing in winning the coveted Miss World crown has further burnished the image of Jamaica in the global space as a serious country of talent across most spectra of human endeavour.

As such, her parents, family, friends, and the organisers of the Miss Jamaica World pageant are all deserving of special kudos in helping her to realise her dream.

Fortifying that dream is a story of grit, determination, fixity of purpose, and the striving for excellence, which, when combined, represent a template for Jamaica and Jamaicans at home and abroad for excelling in  the 21st century.

Toni-Ann succeeded in becoming Miss World 2019 by standing steadfastly in her own truth and her own purpose, even while much in her native Jamaica seems to be bordering on chaos and disintegration.

The broader lesson of her victory on the world stage — along with those of compatriots Usain Bolt, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Dalton Harris, Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, Tessanne Chin, and countless others — speaks to the struggle in this former outpost of Empire to overcome entrenched biases against anything predicated on notions of self-determination and cultural sovereignty. By her performance in London last Saturday leading to her celebrated victory, Toni-Ann Singh silently, but confidently, spoke to our hearts telling us that it is unacceptable in the 21st century that, as descendants of slaves and indentured servants, we should stand marginal in our society, and indeed the world, in freedom.

Thanks must go out to our Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Minister Olivia “Babsy” Grange for her role in, and invaluable assistance to Toni-Ann’s journey in winning the Miss World crown in such a sophisticated, self-assured and pleasing manner. Grange, not for the first time, demonstrated that she understands the basic fact of our existential reality rooted in a history which so many evolved Jamaicans would quickly recommend that we forget. She genuinely believes in Jamaica’s capacity to succeed, whether in sports, entertainment, gender affairs, or culture. More important, her hidden role in the Jamaica Miss World 2019 victory demonstrated her deeply held belief that our people, from mass to middle, can succeed, but must find their own soil in which to plant their feet if they are really to produce and take their rightful place in the world.

Everton Prycelxpryc@yahoo.com

Miss Jamaica Toni-Ann Singh to the world, indeed!