Jessica Acquaye

By Samuel Getachew

Most Canadians have given up on the prospects ever winning the Miss Universe pageant in the near future. The reality is that we have not even come close to winning it in the past. However, if we were to have any hope of winning Miss Universe, the latest recipient of Ms AfriCanada beauty pageant might be it. Sway caught up with the inspiring winner of Miss AfriCanada, Jessica Acquaye, over the long Thanksgiving weekend.

SG: Miss Universe 2011 produced the second African Miss Universe (Angola’s Leila Lopes) earlier this year. What did that mean to you as Miss AfriCanada?

Acquaye: Miss Angola’s win was a further testament to the progressive rise of black beauty, elegance and intellect. It’s such an amazing feeling to see a female of African descent be recognized as the most beautiful woman in the world! Her win solidified my crowning as Miss AfriCanada because one of my primary motives for joining the pageant was to promote the highly underrated ideal of being a strong, confident, independent black woman. She was able to bring [this ideal] to surface on the international scale. Her win made me feel as though I was being crowned all over again!

You are a very accomplished young person of only 20 years old. You have been a student leader in high school, valedictorian and a fourth-year award winning accomplished academic star at the University of Toronto. Tell us about your journey so far.

My journey has been far from an easy one and hearing my accomplishments listed like that really puts into perspective how far God has brought me in life. It wasn’t really until the latter stages of elementary school that I began to excel in my academics. Prior to that, I simply lacked the self-efficacy to do so. I kept this same drive for my academics throughout secondary school, where I also realized how much I enjoyed being involved in extracurricular activities like student council, the basketball team, the choir, the black history month committee and the list goes on.

I believe the biggest stumbling blocks to my journey thus far came in post secondary school, where I was not only faced with the demands of a more challenging work load, but also familial problems and greater financial restraints. With all of this though, I gained a substantial amount of strength and perseverance that has made me the relatively established 20-year-old that I am now.

How did it feel to represent your beloved Ghana as Miss AfriCanada?

It felt absolutely wonderful to be granted the privilege of representing Ghana in this year’s pageant. Ghana truly is a country that is emerging as a global powerhouse, and it was truly an honour embodying all that is Ghanaian! It’s funny; I have such a sense of cultural pride, yet I have not been to Ghana yet. I was born and raised here in Toronto, however my mother has never let me forget where my ancestry lies, and I will use the opportunity I have now with the pageant to at last visit my homeland.

Most of us who are Afro Canadians always attempt to help our home countries. What are some of your future goals when it comes to helping Ghana?

As of right now, I am in the works of getting hospital beds donated to a local hospital in Ghana.  I know healthcare is a huge issue everywhere in the world, and it’s saddening that my own people are sometimes deprived of this human right. In the long run, I hope to collaborate with NGOs in order to promote sport for development programs targeted to adolescents back home. Being a kinesiology major, I am aware of all the physiological and psychological benefits of physical activity and would love to impart such knowledge on to the upcoming generation.

As Miss AfriCanada, what signature initiatives would you want to bring during your one-year term?

Once again, I cannot stress enough how important physical activity healthy lifestyle choices are for everybody, particularly individuals of African descent. It’s a sad fact that Africans who reside in the Western world have some of the highest incidences of diabetes, coronary heart disease and obesity, and unless we prevent this from the grassroots level, this is a problem that will continue to persist.

I intend to implement after school sport programs within local low socioeconomic status communities. These programs would not only grant children the opportunity to be physically active, but would also provide services such as homework help. Occupying the time of adolescents with such productive activities would undoubtedly reduce their chances of engaging in undesired behaviors.

Why are beauty pageants relevant?

I personally perceive beauty pageants, particularly those that are heritage based such as Miss Africanada, as promoting far more than aesthetic appearance. They serve as mediums to encourage charisma, grace and the embracement of culture. Although these may come off as essential values for young women to possess, we now reside in a society where such morals are in large part devalued. I can testify to the fact that the pageant has worked wonders for my self-confidence and has enabled me to never let my inhibitions hinder me from achieving what it is that I want to achieve.

Visit www.missafricanada.ca for more information on the Miss AfriCanada pageant

Related Articles:

• The Story of a Travel Junkie
• Q&A with Ontario Federation of Labour VP Terry Downey
• Q&A with Sarah Onyango
• Q&A with Gwyneth Chapman
• Q&A with Canadian Black Lawyers Association’s Andrew Alleyne