Raissa Santana becomes the second black woman to be crowned Miss Brasil! She is only the second black winner in 62 years!

Note from BW of Brazil: We called it! This blog has covered the events leading up to the Miss Brasil contest last night as a record six black women were featured in the competition. Our loyal readers will remember that BW of Brazil predicted a victory for a black woman two weeks agoBW of Brazil predicted a victory for a black woman two weeks ago after seeing the momentum leading to an unprecedented six state representatives. Although this writer didn’t post it here, over a week ago, after taking a good look at all of the black contestants, I also concluded that Raissa would take the crown. All of the six Afro-Brazilian women in the contest were beautiful, but Raissa’s smile, radiance and dazzling beauty stood out a bit more, at least for me.

It’s unbelievable that it took 30 years for another black woman to capture the crown, only the second in the 62 year history of Miss Brasil! Needless to say, it’s been a long-time coming, and I believe that this contest is sort of a coronation, even if only symbolic, of the headline making activism of Afro-Brazilian women over the past few years. I don’t expect an ultra-Eurocentric Brazil to make any drastic changes that would allow black women to have more prominence in important areas of the country’s day to day, but even so, the victory will go down in the history books. 

Miss Brasil 2016: Paraná representative is the second black woman to win the contest

With information from Revista Donna, Rede TV, M de Mulher and Ego

The representative from the state of Paraná won the 2016 edition of Miss Brasil: Raissa Santana was crowned Miss this Saturday night at the ceremony held at Citibank Hall, in São Paulo, and broadcast live on Band TV. The paranaense (native of Paraná ), 21, is the second black woman to win the contest: the first was the gaúcha (native of the Rio Grande do Sul state) Deise Nunes in 1986.

This edition was marked by the fact of having the largest number of black candidates in the history of the competition. Miss RS 2016 Letícia Kuhn, was among the 10 semifinalists and not ranked among the five finalists.

The delivery of the sashe was made by Miss Brasil 2015 Marthina Brandt, who on Friday revealed that she was secretly fighting cancer. She won the race by putting together a look with Ellus pieces in thirty seconds and a second test in self-makeup. Danielle Marion, from Rio Grande do Norte, and Deise D’anne, of Maranhão, were respectively second and third place. Raissa had the opportunity to tell the jurors live why she deserved to win the crown. She said she wanted to “break the 30 year fast” since the last black Miss won the beauty contest.

Raissa studies Marketing and measures 1m77cm (5’9 ½ ). She measures 90cm bust, 64cm waist and 87cm hips (35-25-34)

Deise Nunes Ferst was the fourth representative from Rio Grande do Sul to be crowned Miss Brasil in 1986 (and the first and only black to win the contest until then). In an interview with the Donna site earlier in the week, the gaúcha said she was pleased with the involvement of black candidates in the competition and hoped that the public would recognize the beauty of the participants.

“Certainly, the reception is more open,” she said. “This opens doors for them and, if one is elected, it is important that she in fact embraces the cause of negritude and always fights for respect, opportunity and space.”

In her last posting on Instagram before the contest, Raissa made it clear that being Miss Brasil was more than a dream for her. “I can’t imagine my future, I don’t know what God has for me. What happened to me today were things that I confess to be beyond (my) dreams. I thank all of you who are living in mine and my dreams,” she declared.

After the conquest, the beautiful just posted a photo, crowned, and celebrated: “I AM MISS BRASIL”. The beautiful will represent the Brasil at the Miss Universe contest, to be held January 30 in the Philippines.

After her victory, Santana said, “I’m very emotional. This here is a mixture of great emotions. I didn’t expect to win this title, but I am very happy to have won this title and to represent black beauty and encourage girls who have the dream of having something, to conquer, to be a model, to be a Miss…now I want to encourage these girls and show them that they can,” said Miss Brasil.

Raissa is dating Tagliari Marcos, 38, (1) with whom she has been 10 months. He talked his girlfriend’s conquest: “I ran on a fast with her, worked out with her, dieted…We cheered a lot and knew she had a chance to win,” he said.

The winner won a trip to Italy, as well as a set of white gold set with brilliant topaz gems from Vivara. She also wom a brand new 2017 Kia Picanto, a contract with Polishop valued at R$ 100,000 and a trip to Cartagena, Colombia, with the right to a companion, offered by Brazil Exclusive.

Source: Revista Donna, Rede TV, M de Mulher, Ego

Note

1. With our long time focus on black women activists who have been calling out black men for what seems to be a preference for white women in romantic relationships, we must also take note of the choices of a large percentage of successful as well as everyday black women as well.