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23/12/2019
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Byron Dobson, Tallahassee Democrat, Published 9:43 a.m. ET Dec. 23, 2019
Florida State University junior Samoya Calvin says she could hardly handle the suspense while catching updates on the Miss World pageant live from London on her smartphone.
Her cousin, Toni-Ann Singh and reigning Miss Jamaica World, was among the 112 contestants competing for the crown on Dec. 14.
“She was in the Top 5“, she said. “Down from the Top 40, Top 12 and then Top 5.”
And, then came the moment.
Singh, a Women’s Studies major enrolled at FSU from fall 2014 through summer 2019, was crowned “Miss World,” prompting the audience to erupt in applause, as the woman of the hour bashfully held back tears.
Pageant organizers quoted Singh, upon being chosen, saying:
“So honored and grateful for this opportunity but most of all I’m thinking about the work that needs to be done and that I have the platform and the means to do it. I’m ready to get out there and work. I’m excited!”
So were her friends back in the capital city.
“I jumped up, I was screaming so loud,” said Calvin, a junior majoring in exercise physiology and minoring in chemistry and psychology. “I was so proud and humbled and honored. This is something she has wanted so much.
Winner of Miss World 2019, Toni-Ann Singh of Jamaica, center with crown, is congratulated by other contestants after winning the award, at the 69th annual Miss World competition at the Excel Centre in London Saturday, Dec 14, 2019, as 120 national representatives from around the world compete for the famous blue crown. Reigning Miss World, Vanessa Ponce de Leon from Mexico will crown her successor. (Photo: Joel C. Ryan/Invision/AP)
“This is surreal,” she continued. “I’m still trying to process what happened.”
Singh’s achievement as the 69th winner of world’s longest running beauty pageant not only created a sense of euphoria for her family, members of the Caribbean Student Association at FSU and her country, it was a historic moment in racial pride and progress for women of color internationally.
For the first time ever, black women were wearing the crowns in 2019 in the top five major beauty pageants:
Miss Universe: Zozibini Tunzi, South Africa;
Miss USA: Cheslie Kryst, Charlotte, North Carolina;
Miss America: Nia Imani Franklin, Brooklyn, New York. (Who was succeeded by the new Miss America, Camille Schrier, on Dec. 19).
Miss Teen USA: Kaliegh Garris, New Haven, Connecticut.
Singh, 23, is a 2014 graduate of the Community School of Naples, an independent, Pre-K through Grade 12 college preparatory day school.
She and her family moved to the U.S. from Jamaica when Singh was 9 years old, and she spent all her teen years in Naples, the Naples Daily News reported.
She was eligible to compete for Miss World after winning Miss Jamaica World in September.
Calvin traveled back to her native land to be on hand.
Winner of Miss World 2019, Toni-Ann Singh of Jamaica, front center, poses for photographers at the 69th annual Miss World competition at the Excel Centre in London Saturday, Dec 14, 2019, as 120 national representatives from around the world compete for the famous blue crown. Reigning Miss World, Vanessa Ponce de Leon from Mexico crowned her successor. (Photo: Joel C. Ryan/Invision/AP)
“We grew up together. We went to FSU together,” Calvin said. “She was always there to help me and help me navigate college. I was a first-generation student (entering in summer 2017).”
Equally proud of Singh is Thea Henry, a first-year graduate student in social work at FSU, having earned her undergraduate degree in psychology and social work in May.
“She is literally an amazing human being,” Henry said of the close friend she met in her freshman year. “You can tell when she walks in the room, she lights up the room. She’s happy all the time. To know Toni is to root for Toni.”
Henry and Singh both were active members of the Caribbean Student Association at FSU, where Singh was named Miss FSU CSA in 2016. Singh then became president of the association and its 250 dues-paying members in 2017, the same year she was named Miss Florida Caribbean Association.
“I was overjoyed with excitement,” Henry said of Singh’s Miss World crowning. She, too, recounts screaming to those around her, " 'My friend just won Miss World,' and then I called her cousin (Calvin) and we were just screaming.”
Henry and Calvin both describe Singh as having an outgoing, affectionate personality. They say she cares deeply about bringing people together, building families and inspiring women and young girls to reach for the stars.
In the aftermath of winning, Singh tweeted:
“To that little girl in St. Thomas, Jamaica and all the girls around the world – please believe in yourself. Please know that you are worthy and capable of achieving your dreams. This crown is not mine but yours. You have a PURPOSE.”
Winner of Miss World 2019, Toni-Ann Singh of Jamaica, center with crown, is congratulated by other contestants after winning the award, at the 69th annual Miss World competition at the Excel Centre in London Saturday, Dec 14, 2019, as 120 national representatives from around the world compete for the famous blue crown. Reigning Miss World, Vanessa Ponce de Leon from Mexico will crown her successor. (Photo: Joel C. Ryan/Invision/AP)
Singh, who took time off and was not enrolled in FSU this fall, aspires to attend medical school and become a doctor.
In addition to the Caribbean Student Association, Singh also was active in the Student Government Association, the Black Student Union, the FSU Gospel Choir and was a member of Garnet and Gold Guides, a student organization that provides on-campus tours for prospective FSU athletes, Henry said.
Calvin said she’s been in touch with Singh since the victory.
“She’s still the same Toni, talking about how happy she is about the crowning,” she said. “We talk and laugh about the same things before Miss World.”
“She is my role model,” Henry added. “She has given me so much confidence to pursue things that I would not have, had I not come to her."
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