THE EDITOR, Sir:

I WRITE this email with tears rolling down my cheeks and my heart brimming with poetic justice, as exactly 200 years after the British Government issued the ruling for the legal abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade in enslaved Africans, a dark-skinned dreadlocked lady wins the Miss Jamaica Universe Crown.

I consider it no coincidence that on the very day, March 25, 2007, 200 years later, we boast a queen who looks more like the general population, signalling a powerful message to our young girls and boys that we are beautiful too.

The concept of beauty is one of the sore points of our cultural heritage, as the plantation system, bent on indoctrinating black slaves to believe that they were animals, fed the garb that black is crude and ugly; his/her nose, lips, hair, etc. Zahra Redwood, thick-lipped, dark-skinned and dreadlocked, is a slap in the face of history and its lies. It is also a reflection of the changing attitudes of our gatekeepers, since it was the judges' call. They indeed have made a bold step in selecting Miss Redwood, a significant diversion from the norm.

Let us put her face all over the media. Let us have her picture framed in the auditoriums of primary and high schools. Let us have our young black girls know that they don't need to bleach their skin or burn their hair straight to be desirable, beautiful or chosen. Let them know that God made them just the way they are, and that that image is beautiful. Indeed, let Zahra bring new meaning to the slogan 'Beauty with a Purpose'.

But beyond being a salve for the woes of Black self-image and esteem, I wonder, though, if it is a sign of things to come, a Black American president, a dreadlocked Miss Universe? Marcus Garvey must be smiling in his grave.

I am, etc.,

S. HARRIS

sugarbella78@yahoo.com

New Kingston