Many of the stereotypes surrounding beauty pageants typically revolve around all the frivolity of glitz, glamour, and superficial beauty of the contestants. The Ms. Blind Diva Empowerment Pageant, hosted by Eyes Like Mine Inc., aims to highlight the personal, academic, and professional accomplishments and community involvement of the contestants, despite their disability. Although there have been beauty pageants for disabled people in the United States for years, the media coverage of these events is minimal because they are considered niche events and not marketed to a broad audience. Eyes Like Mine Inc. has a mission to bring nationwide awareness regarding the abilities and potential of individuals with vision loss. The purpose of Ms. Blind Diva Empowerment Pageant is not only to bring a spotlight to the contestant’s accomplishments but also to bring attention to the resilience of the women in this community and to change the perception surrounding the disabled people.

A Ladies Night Virtual mixer will be happening this Wednesday, July 15, 2020, to recruit contestants, and introduce interested women to the current Ms. Blind Diva 2019 Janelle Santana.  Misha McAdoo will be this week’s host, and she will detail the benefits of being a contestant. This year’s pageant will occur virtually on September 19, 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic affecting the country.  

In preparation for the show, Eyes Like Mine Inc. will be conducting public speaking development and assistive technology sessions in addition to engaging in community service activities. There are many more details to come in the upcoming weeks, so stay tuned by following Eyes Like Mine Inc on social media links below: 

https://www.instagram.com/eyeslikemineinc/ 

https://twitter.com/EyesLikeMineInc

https://www.facebook.com/eyeslikemineinc/

The application deadline is July 19, 2020, and can be found here. 

Written by: Olivia Snowe