“I have always learned that if I ask God for something he will give it to you. Through faith I received,” said Kim Major, and receive she did, when she won the Miss Black Illinois Pageant this past summer.

Major, a 20-year-old NIU sophomore, has been Miss Black Illinois since July 8, 1990. The pageant, in which 30 contestants participated, was held at the First National Bank of Chicago Theater in Chicago.

Major first became involved in the pageant when her mother asked her if she wanted to do it. “I was against it at first. After having a meeting with the executive producer she convinced me to give it a try,” Major said.

Major only had a month to prepare for the contest which included being interviewed by six judges. She began this process in June – other contestants had begun the preceding September. She was the last of the contestants to enter the pageant. “It was a challenge. You had to practice walking in four-inch heels, learn how to answer questions and be up on current events,” Major said.

During the pageant the contestants were judged in four competitions: the swimsuit competition, which Major won, the talent competition in which she did a modern dance to “God Bless the Child,” the evening gown competition and finally, a competition on how well contestants answered certain questions at random.

Major’s question was, “What does stand by your man man to a self-sustained black woman?” She replied, “The woman is the meat keeper to her man; you cannot improve the Bible.” Major explained that black women should “stand by her man, provide for him and assist him in his needs.”

As Miss Black Illinois it was Major’s duty to compete in the Miss Black America pageant which was held July 22, 1990, and she was one of the 10 finalists.

Major has many unspecified obligations as Miss Black Illinois. “My time is not my time anymore. When I am called to do something I have to attend. You have to be a role model to the youth and your peers and I have to watch what I do.”

Major is the founder and president of Students Against Gangs and Drugs. She also focuses on crack/cocaine babies and promotes education on the subject. “I have visited Mount Sinai Hospital which has the highest infant mortality rate in Chicago,” Major said.

She has also visited hospitals in New Orleans, New York, Los Angeles, Washingtion D.C. and Peoria, and is the national spokesperson for a fundraising committee that provides for needy babies.

She said that people should see the crack/cocaine babies for themselves. “When you’re there you see them struggling to hold on to life,” Major said.

Although Major put a lot of time and and work in preparing for the pageant she is glad the she had the chance to do it. “I don’t regret anything. I’d do it all over again.”