ENGLEWOOD — RaShanah Baldwin will compete for the title of Ms. American Elegance-Woman at the 2016 National Pageant in suburban Itasca Saturday and Sunday.
She was crowned Ms. Illinois American Elegance-Woman in August.
Baldwin, 32, launched a GoFundMe to raise $500 to cover pageant costs. The Englewood native said she’s been competing and watching pageants for years. As a pastime, she and her mother would watch them as she was growing up.
To see live updates this weekend during the pageant, follow her on Facebook.
Baldwin said she was drawn to this particular pageant because it seemed more mission-driven.
[Photo, left, is by Wendell Hutson. Photo, right, courtesy of RaShanah Baldwin.]
“My platform for the pageant is community activism and volunteerism,” she said. “I want to stress the importance of being civically engaged and the importance of volunteering in your communities and giving back no matter what realm you give back in.”
Resident Association of Greater Englewood President Aysha Butler has known Baldwin for at least seven years. She said Baldwin has always supported her community in some form. Baldwin’s background is in journalism and communications so she has helped a lot of local organizations with press releases and social media for events, Butler said.
“She has been a voice of the great things that are happening in Englewood for a lot of organizations that may not have that platform or voice,” Butler said.
Baldwin coined the #GoodInEnglewood hashtag around 2009. She had been interning in different television newsrooms and said she was tired of the negative portrayal her community received in the media. The social media campaign was born.
“It was more so of a pushback on the media,” she said. “Yes, there’s crime. We know things happen, but let’s change that narrative. Let’s give a counter to that. So 'GoodInEnglewood' is really a positive social media campaign highlighting all things good in the community.”
She said all of the negative media coverage hurts the people living in those neighborhoods.
“Don’t keep painting that picture of despair because that creates fear and fear creates prejudice and that creates that negative perception of people of color,” Baldwin said.
Her “Good in Englewood" segment on Kennedy-King College's WKKC (89.3 FM) broadcasts every Tuesday at 10:15 a.m.
She received her bachelor’s degreee in communications from University of Illinois at Chicago and a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from DePaul University.
From 2008-2013 she co-hosted “Impresario Radio” on WVON, discussing food and entertainment with Cliff Rome, another Englewood native.
Baldwin said one day she would like to be on a national platform and have her own television show on which she highlights the positive aspects of communities of color, as well as addressing the issues of the day.
"I want to bring awareness to issues that affect individuals who are underrepresented," she said.
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