Miss America 2019: Miss Michigan Criticizes the Flint Water Crisis

A Sunday contest contestant in Miss America has been praised on social media for using her brief introduction to draw attention to the water crisis in Flint.

Instead of talking about herself, Miss Michigan said she was "state-born with 84% of fresh water in the United States, but that there was none for her inhabitants ".

A deadly water crisis, due to lead plumbing, has afflicted Flint since 2014.

Local residents are always advised to drink only filtered and bottled water.

Nearly 100,000 people in the poor, mostly black city are thought to have been exposed to high levels of lead.

The contamination was attributed to at least 12 deaths.

While water testing is improving, full pipe replacement is not expected to be completed until 2020.

On Twitter, people applauded Emily Sioma's comments, calling her a "badass woman" and saying she should have won for speaking out.

As a survivor of a sexual assault, Ms. Sioma has already used her public platform to draw attention to violence against women.

She did not make the final 15, but comments on her Instagram page thanked her and described her as "heroes" for drawing attention to the Flint Crisis on a big TV platform.

Other competitors were also political during the competition.

Earlier this week, Miss West Virginia's Madeline Collins said in a preliminary round that President Trump was the biggest problem that is dividing America right now.

Miss Virginia Emili McPhail also skated in the NFL's kneeling line, claiming that American footballers had "absolutely" the right to protest police brutality during the national anthem.

Miss America 2.0

The contest is changing brands after an email scandal involving its former CEO in 2017.

The organizers announced earlier this year that the "2.0" version of Miss America would no longer judge candidates for outer beauty.

"Miss America will represent a new generation of women leaders focused on scholarship, social impact, talent and empowerment," said Gretchen Carlson, chairman of the board, in a news release on these changes.

This year's competition was the first without a swimsuit sleeve, which was discontinued in favor of a segment of interviews with competitors.

Miss New York, Nia Imani Franklin, won the 2019 crown and a $ 50,000 (£ 40,000) purse on Sunday night.

After her victory, she praised the controversial abandonment of the bikini ride.

"I have already seen so many young women contact me personally as Miss New York asking me how they can get involved because I think they feel better able to not do things like walking in swimsuits to get a scholarship. "she said after the competition.

"And I'm glad I did not have to do it to win this title tonight because I'm more than that."

"And all these women on stage are more than that."

In 2018, Cara Mund, the winner of the ceremony, received the crown. She wrote an open letter claiming that the president and CEO of the organization had "systematically" silenced and marginalized since her victory.

Both men are currently facing calls for the resignation of 46 of the 51 state competition organizations.