{"id":9462,"date":"2018-03-16T02:44:16","date_gmt":"2018-03-16T02:44:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.partyinc.com\/?p=9462"},"modified":"2018-03-16T02:46:09","modified_gmt":"2018-03-16T02:46:09","slug":"vibe-interview-miss-jamaica-davina-bennett-talks-self-love-and-embracing-natural-beauty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.partyinc.com\/vibe-interview-miss-jamaica-davina-bennett-talks-self-love-and-embracing-natural-beauty\/","title":{"rendered":"Vibe Interview: Miss Jamaica Davina Bennett Talks Self-Love And Embracing Natural Beauty"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Davina Bennett, everything changed after she made one hair decision. Before gracing the stage at the 2017 Miss Universe pageant, the Miss Jamaica<\/a> title holder made the choice\u00a0of embracing her natural beauty by wearing\u00a0an afro. Refusing to succumb to preconceived beauty standards,\u00a0the 22-year-old and her\u00a0natural \u2018do confidently strutted the catwalk and catapulted into the social media spotlight.<\/p>\n

Not only did her unapologetic move propel her name into the minds and aspirations of little black and brown girls everywhere, the\u00a0Jamaican model made pageant history. Though her regal disposition makes it easy to believe the natural beauty popped out of the womb a confident goddess, the Clarendon Parish native admits it took her a lot of roaming in the dark\u00a0before reaching the end of\u00a0the winding road to self-love.<\/p>\n

In honor of International Women\u2019s Day, VIBE<\/em>\u00a0spoke with the Jamaican model about her journey to womanhood, how she\u00a0exudes confidence\u00a0and manages to be a role the realties of being a human being.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

When did you start to realize, \u201cI\u2019m actually this beautiful woman and I need to love myself\u201d? And when did the gears start turning for that?<\/strong><\/p>\n

When you\u2019re 21, you\u2019re still going through those phases. I tend to have those phases still, now and then. I think it\u2019s a mindset because I know I have this responsibility of others looking up to me for motivation, for encouragement. I become that figure, I become that character that is that person who is supposed to exude confidence. We have\u00a0our time to time as a girl when we go through our phases, \u201cugh, I don\u2019t look good today\u201d or \u201cI look boss today.\u201d I do have my ups and downs, but it really is a process from where I was to where I am today. I think it\u2019s about having the right people around you. I have to say my circle is really small but it\u2019s small with the right people that say the right things. Over time, if you keep hearing it as well, people saying to [me], \u201cOh, Davina, you look beautiful and you can do this,\u201d even when I don\u2019t believe it sometimes I slightly think, \u201cOh, he says that, so I can do that.\u201d Over time if you keep hearing something, you tend to take a little bit of what each person says, it becomes your own and you make it your own until I can say, \u201cAll right, I\u2019m a confident person.\u201d<\/p>\n

What are some highlights and lowlights of your life\u00a0as a kid?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My highlights would be I was always a person that was energetic and fun and I loved sports. When I was in prep school I was named sports girl of the year. I have over 20 medals and trophies and plaques. I was a superstar in sports.\u00a0When I\u2019m around my family. I think that\u2019s a really strong highlight for me. When I\u2019m around them during Christmas or Easter or just to get together to talk, to sit. I think that\u2019s one of the best things in my childhood.<\/p>\n

Growing up I wasn\u2019t treated so nicely by other persons. I was bullied. Some people would criticize my hair. I had long nappy hair with some big plaits. I had people pulling on it and calling me names. I was called names because I was tall and slim and at that time, the children of my average height, I was a bit taller. So I got teased for being slim and tall. People would say I\u2019m not beautiful and I don\u2019t have a good shape. I did get bullied from time to time in school [and] I\u2019ve also been a victim of cyberbullying. I have a lot of lowlights. I mean you can be honest with that. [When] being Miss Universe, people think, \u201cOh this girl is perfect\u201d and it\u2019s not like that all.<\/p>\n

What happened with the cyberbullying?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think people overall have a tendency when you\u2019re moving forward or you\u2019re moving upwards, they tend to believe that they need to pull you down. I became a victim of that, where I was propelling forward and people thought as I shouldn\u2019t. Or I\u2019m moving too quickly for my age. I would get a lot of backlash and people would lambast me differently. I have to say I have my down moments. As I said, when you have good people around you to keep motivating you and supporting you then it\u2019s easier to pick yourself back up.<\/p>\n

Have you been natural your whole life? I know you said you had long natural hair that you kept in plaits.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, I\u2019ve had natural hair up to about the eighth grade. I was like, I can\u2019t deal with it no more. It\u2019s too thick. I was in high school and Mommy is still [doing] my hair in three [plaits] and everybody was laughing at me. I was like I need to grow up. I can\u2019t keep having bubbles and stuff in my hair going into high school. I was like I need to get long straight hair. At the time, I always wanted to be a model and there wasn\u2019t much representation in magazines that looked like me. I wanted to look like the girls with straight hair. So that\u2019s what really made me think that would make me look more beautiful. My mother was resistant of me doing it. But I was like no, \u201cI want to do it. I want to look pretty.\u201d She\u2019s like, \u201cAll right, \u2018gwan damage your hair. Do what you want to do. After a while you will realize.\u201d And I have come to the realization. You really don\u2019t need to do anything to embrace your to be beautiful. I\u2019m really proud of the decisions that I\u2019ve made today because I can see that it has made a very big impact in the world today.<\/p>\n

Did you do the big chop?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, I did. My hair was about this length [demonstrates hair very close to her scalp] when I cut it off. It was in 2016.<\/p>\n

Oh my gosh your hair grew really fast!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, yes. And I\u2019ve actually cut it again because I don\u2019t like when it\u2019s getting too long. But I really had just really cut it out of frustration. My grandma passed in that year and to be very honest, it was the day before the funeral and my hair was being combed. The person was tugging on it and I was like, \u201cYou know what, just cut it off my head.\u201d And everybody was like \u201cWhat!? What you mean cut it off?\u201d I was like, \u201cJust cut it off.\u201d We did the big chop, [and] off it went, and I was like, \u201cYou know what? I like this vibe.\u201d After a while everybody kept complimenting me like, \u201cOh, we love your hair. Don\u2019t do anything to your hair.\u201d It kept growing and people keep saying, \u201cKeep it, keep it,\u201d even up to the point of going into the Miss Universe competition. My managers Carl and Mark, they were the ones that said \u201cYou should definitely keep it.\u201d That\u2019s how I ended up keeping it for the competition.<\/p>\n

Did you have anyone that was like, \u201cI think you should wear your hair straight.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh yeah, definitely. A lot of people on social media were like \u201cYou can\u2019t win with your hair like that. It doesn\u2019t look good. They\u2019re not used to hair like that in the competition. You can\u2019t make it past [the] top 16. You have to change. You need to look like the other girls.\u201d I had a lot of that, especially before heading to Vegas. People were like it makes no sense because people are not going to pick you. It\u2019s really surprising to me when I got back to my room and I was like let me check what\u2019s happening on social media.<\/p>\n

Manager:<\/strong> To add to that when we got to Vegas, like four days before the competition, all the national directors and people, when they realized we were associated with Jamaica, they were like \u201cOh, Mrs. Jamaica! She\u2019s special, her hair, her skin.\u201d And it was so weird.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s how black people look.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s the thing. It\u2019s like in that world, in the pageant world, it\u2019s not what they\u2019re used to. It\u2019s like nobody has been bold enough to decide that they\u2019re going to do it. I think it\u2019s because they knew I was a strong contender and they believed I was going to lose it because I\u2019m making the decision to keep my hair. I was like, let\u2019s burn the stigma. I decided I was not going to do anything to it while I was there. People kept messaging me. I had to get someone to run my social media because I didn\u2019t want to be pulled down into the negativity of people asking \u201cwhy don\u2019t you do something with your hair? You\u2019re competing with all these girls with the straight hair. Get a weave.\u201d<\/p>\n

All those messages. I\u2019m surprised to say as I got back to the room and said I was going to check what was going on on social media, and it was all about the hair. People were like, \u201cOh my gosh, she actually did it.\u201d I remember immediately after the show ended, my coach, that\u2019s Lu Sierra, she came to me and she hugged me. I was crying at the moment and she says \u201cMiss Jamaica, you made history tonight. I\u2019ve been here for quite a while and no one like you has reached this far and I\u2019m proud of you.\u201d For me that was everything, coming from Lu Sierra. I admire her for so many years because of what she\u2019s accomplished and what she\u2019s able to do and to do for girls around the world.<\/p>\n

You are an advocate for black women to embrace their natural beauty and you have this campaign that you\u2019ve started on Instagram, #AfroFriday. How did that come about?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was actually from our queens in Jamaica, one of which is Terri Karelle, a former Miss World. Everybody was really pushing it, and saying \u201cyou did very well and thank you for representing our people, majority of the people. We look up to you for this,\u201d and was like why don\u2019t we start something. Start something for a particular day. I was like all right. I remember when all the posts was happening, it was actually [on a] Friday. I was like all right, Afro Friday. Now, even in Jamaica, the Ministry of Education is lobbying to have natural hair in schools. It\u2019s now a debate amongst the boards to get afro hair in schools. A lot of the schools and workplaces, people are told to pull your hair back because it doesn\u2019t look properly groomed, it doesn\u2019t look professional, it\u2019s not elegant. So now I can say the tables are turning. The tables are turning and a difference is definitely going to be made.<\/p>\n

And you also talked about black representation in the beauty industry. How do you feel about celebrities like Rihanna that are taking it upon themselves to be more inclusive in representation?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think it\u2019s a big deal because as you know when you\u2019re a celebrity or you\u2019re someone that people look up to, if you decide you\u2019re going to become someone of representation of even representing your own kind, it\u2019s a big deal. Because now I can\u2019t only look up to you like \u201coh you sing well.\u201d But I can look up to you to say you\u2019re someone like me. You\u2019re someone that\u2019s relatable. You\u2019re someone that I can look up to and say I wanna be like her. Even if I\u2019m not able to sing, I can be like her because she looks like, or she\u2019s representing what I am. I think representation is a big deal. I\u2019m a testimony of this because since I\u2019ve done the competition. There are many females, young girls, babies, men that have said thank you for doing this. Thank you for doing it on the biggest stage, that\u2019s never been done and we\u2019re grateful to have it and so you\u2019ve inspired us to wear our hair like this. It\u2019s become a thing. I even see celebrities rocking their \u2018fros on the red carpet, and it might not be from me, but I do know it\u2019s out there in the atmosphere that afros are definitely the thing to be wearing.<\/p>\n

What new do you have going on or anything with you, personally or through your organization?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We do have a few things in the pipeline to accomplish. We have some endorsements and contracts and ambassadorship deals coming. I can say I\u2019m clearly excited about everything. I\u2019m not limited to any one thing. I believe that because of such a platform that I was on, I was able to speak for what I believe in which I promoted deaf awareness. I spoke about all the things. I can say for being on a platform that big I definitely see myself going into any direction. From talking about civil rights to \u2014 I wouldn\u2019t say I\u2019m a revolutionist \u2014 but I\u2019m definitely someone who stands up for what is right. Women have been under victimization of many things, and if I can be that representation wherever the path leads me to, I will be there. Also, I have a foundation which is the Davina Bennett Foundation For The Deaf<\/a>, and I have to say we have partnered with the Sigma Run.<\/p>\n

Sigma Run is a big thing that we have in Jamaica, which is where we run for a cause. We walk, we run, we wheel for a cause. It\u2019s a 5k run and we select a route and we all run for a particular cause. This year the beneficiaries are St. Christopher\u2019s School For The Deaf which needs a lot of assistance. And Spanish Town [a city in Jamaica] needs a ventilation unit. So there\u2019s only one ventilator in the hospital and there are a lot of babies being born. So we are definitely running for a cause and to give back to the beneficiaries this year and I have to see that it is something that I am truly happy about because it speaks to the level of how great the Miss Universe platform is. That awareness was created for the deaf community.<\/p>\n

What would you tell your 10-year-old self?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Just be you. Be confident. Everything is going to be ok. As a 10-year-old, I have to say I\u00a0overthought a lot. I didn\u2019t have a very high self-esteem. I never thought I was beautiful. I never thought I was good at anything. I always thought I wasn\u2019t going to reach anywhere. I would just tell myself to just relax.\u00a0It\u2019s all going to fall into play.<\/p>\n

Via<\/strong>.: Vibe.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Davina Bennett, everything changed after she made one hair decision. Before gracing the stage at the 2017 Miss Universe pageant, the Miss Jamaica title holder made the choice\u00a0of embracing her natural beauty by wearing\u00a0an afro. Refusing to succumb to preconceived beauty standards,\u00a0the 22-year-old and her\u00a0natural \u2018do confidently strutted the catwalk and catapulted into the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9463,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.partyinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9462"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.partyinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.partyinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.partyinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.partyinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9462"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.partyinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9462\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9465,"href":"https:\/\/www.partyinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9462\/revisions\/9465"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.partyinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.partyinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.partyinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.partyinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}