GUELPH – Kween, the former executive director of the Guelph Black Heritage Society, was crowned Canadian National Ms on Aug. 27, walking away with wins in all areas of the Canadian National Miss Pageant.
The pageant highlights philanthropy and volunteerism, areas in which Kween’s repertoire is bursting.
In an interview with the Advertiser Kween humbly admitted she not only came in first place overall for her age group, but also for congeniality, best interview, best introduction, best fun fashion, best evening gown, and best hometown costume.
She’s still processing the overwhelming magnitude of all those wins.
Winning the Miss Congeniality “means just as much as the crown,” to Kween, as its peer selected by the other delegates.
“Kindness, generosity and love is something I really walk with and put a lot of care into. I just always want to help, and give back to the people in my life,” she said.
The hometown costume was a “fun, creative element,” and community and friends helped create Kween’s local costume: a denim jacket festooned with over 50 pins from local businesses, a purple tutu, and a train made with Guelph’s tartan.
“At the end of the day, I’m not self-made – I’m community-made, and I wanted to represent that somehow within my hometown costume.”
Kween added a “Black and Indigenous touch” to the tartan to move away from its colonial history and “implement the storytelling of the fact that Black and Indigenous people were here first.”
She incorporated “little pieces of crown royalty design” to reclaim precolonial Black kings and queens, and included Indigenous beading, with guidance from Indigenous friends.
“Pageantry is one of those national titles you get to hold without any federal or provincial ties, which really allows passionate frontline grassroots work to get done in really meaningful ways and that really showed throughout the weekend,” Kween said.
She said all the queens in the competition “showed up with platforms they felt passionate about,” embodying themes such as mental health, Indigenous land protection, and inclusivity around disabilities.
Kween said she is in awe of how passionate the other queens in the pageant are about helping others.
