Cherie Coco,

Wan--da--fool!

More grease to your elbow! You can come live with us. Oh no, this is
America, Aggo can leave the house if he is not happy.

Before comparing beauty pageants to fashion shows and African rituals, Aggo
forgot that most of the former are organized by men, staged with male
judges looking for standards of beauty that have done nothing but cause
harm to girls and women and cause men (off course not all of them) to
accept women based on appearance rather than the content of their person. The
few times I've watched beauty pageants on TV, I've played this mental game
of "what if." And the game consists of just reversing the roles where the
women contestants become the judges. The question that pops in my mind is
whether it's ever occurred to these men to apply the criteria for beauty on
themselves. All the participants (women contestants and men judges) are obviously not on an
equal footing. Moreover, the whole idea is too alienating and divisive.

As Africans, especially Africans away from home, I'm not sure we
necessarily need to mimic everything our hosts / friends / do. There is
more to lose in it for us than for them. I'm all for fundraising and
community development and Progress. But please, let's seek activities and
themes that elevate us. We didn't come this far to stoop so low in the name
of a few bucks.

Also, I applaud LAW for officially taking a stand as leaders of the
Liberian community here. You do us proud.

--Emilie

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