Setting the Record Straight from Shawn Cunningham -- Prove Yourself

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Date Posted: 06:45:49 08/12/04 Thu
Author: Shawn Cunningham
Subject: Setting the Record Straight from Shawn Cunningham

Dear Teandra,
I am writing this statement after much thought, a good night's rest and deep prayer over a situation that caused me, my friends, my pageant acquaintances and above all my pageant sisters much distress and controversy. Let me say first, I pride myself on being a positive person, and spreading that positivity to all whom I'm fortunate to meet...I try to distance myself from negativity as much as possible. Yesterday, when this whole debacle first happened, I spoke with you via email and several other people trying to piece together what caused such disarray for me, my service club sistermembers and those around me....Finally I decided to go to all of the direct sources...in addition to you I spoke with Yolanda and subsequently Yvette and before I put my head to pillow last night I thought long and hard about who was telling the truth and who was NOT. Its a good thing I'm a journalist, because being a journalist is a lot like being a detective....you piece all the facts together and evaluate people's behavior before making ANY determination....Long story short, here's what I've deduced and here's what I've decided as the best course of action for me:

Starting today I NO LONGER WANT ANY ASSOCIATION WITH YOU, YOUR PAGEANT ORGANIZATION, OR YOUR BITTER RIVALRY WITH OTHER HARD WORKING PAGEANT ORGANIZATIONS....You portrayed yourself to be one way to me in an effort of gaining my support, garnering my contestant sponsorship and entry into my pageant circle of friends and sisters...You gave me half-truths in an effort of continuing your war with the Miss Ethnic World Pageant Organization and either you or people in your camp have non-stop, in such a rude, slanderous, libelous and downright NASTY effort have degraded, ripped to shred innocent people's reputations and endeavors. I don't know nor care what caused this war between you and Ethnic World but I implore you to rethink your actions....There is room for EVERYBODY to create a pageant system live, online, mail-in or whatever. I support anyone who wants to champion the cause of providing POSITIVE forums for us to compete, make appearances and subseqently empower ourselves. That's what pageantry is all about....But when we choose an online arena to sling mud, tear each other down and LIMIT the opportunities in an industry that's small to begin with and aimed at bettering each other, its a disgrace.

I'm not accusing you..but I have looked at ALL the facts from ALL the parties involved as put before me. And the only common thread in this nightmare has been you. I have read emails sent BY YOU to other parties and the writing was IDENTICLE to that on this nasty voy board. For the record, since I am publicly posting this, I do not visit nor write nor view nor ENCOURAGE, in fact I'm openly DISCOURAGING EVERYONE from participating on these nasty boards. This is the only post I will ever place to set the record straight since I was dragged into this mudslinging venue indirectly. Yesterday, my name, my reputation, and everything I stand for was made a victim of scrutiny and harsh criticism. A close friend of mine, a pageant sister's private thoughts were put on display and changed around....and a pageant colleague Yolanda Makle has been consistently attacked...for what?...Because all of us strive to want to better this industry.. Teandra...I believe your heart is in the right place in wanting to create a system for Black women...but you need to rexamine and refocus the way you approach people....Its too small an industry to alienate....

I want to clear up I did NOT leave one pageant system to join another. I did not leave Ethnic World for Miss Black Universe! I want to clear up I have no grievances with ANYONE! I firmly believe several people are owed an apology...That probably won't happen, but at least this situation...at least my involvement or rather NON-involvement can be set straight.

To all those reading this post and will say "She's defending Yolanda and Ethnic World because they're friends..." Let me nip that in the bud IMMEDIATELY....Yolanda Makle and I have NO personal ties whatsoever, we barely know each other..and I'm no longer a contestant in her system...In fact I dropped out in February because of overstretched financial commitments. I have NOTHING to gain by saying this except setting the record straight for myself. I have been talked about so its my turn to do the talking.

I know of Yolanda, and all the other people mentioned and whether I'm their FRIEND or not, I think this kind of bashing is time wasteful, rude, slanderous and just plain evil. If it were Teandra being talked about i'd come to her defense, anyone else because that's who I am, that's who I've always been. When I was little, I was always the kid coming to the defense of the kid being beat up or bullied in the schoolyard. I might get beat up with that kid (lol) but at least they didn't fight the battle alone. I'm proud of that quality and I maintain that to this day!

What's been going on on this board is wrong..and it should stop! Considering I will no longer visit and have never posted anything except this one statement and will never post anything else, I know one person who will not be on this board....its me! It only takes one..I truly believe that!..and if I stop, and another person stops, and another person stops, etc., etc....wow! This thing mught actually go away...consider that? That might be a naive wish, but that's who I am....I still believe in happy endings, I still believe in Prince Charming, I believe in Cinderella...hell that's why I compete in pageants to get that Cinderella feeling....but this board has been a constant haven of wicked witches and evil goblins. I IMPLORE EVERYONE to cast their own spell and end this garbage!

Teandra, I wish you luck with your future endeavors, but I encourage you, I beg you to do it more POSITIVELY. Its in you...I believe that because its in us all. Life is about choices...CHOOSE TO DO AND SAY THE RIGHT THING!

Sincerely,
Shawn Cunningham
Proud Pageant Enthusiast
Sister to All

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