Miss Kansas Goes Viral for Highly effective Pageant Declaration

A second from the 2024 Miss Kansas pageant is making the rounds on social media, which featured a strong onstage revelation.

Alexis Smith, of Butler County, was formally topped Miss Kansas on June 8, beating out 25 different contestants for the title, in keeping with CBS affiliate KWCH-DT and Backyard Metropolis Telegram.

Smith, 25, is simply the third Black girl to win the title, per ABC affiliate KAKE.

Through the interview portion of the competition, which Smith shared on social media, she firmly acknowledged her purpose as Miss Kansas can be to “get rid of unhealthy and abusive relationships.” 

She then made a surprising declaration: “A few of you out on this viewers noticed me very emotional, as a result of my abuser is right here as we speak.” 

“However that is not going to cease me from being on this Miss Kansas stage and representing as the subsequent Miss Kansas,” she continued. “I and my group deserve wholesome relationships. We deserve a home [violence]-free life.”

On July 16, a clip of the second received shared on Smith’s official X account, which then went viral.

Alongside the clip learn the phrases, “Respect Reclaimed!” — a reference to her group service platform — in addition to the message, “Our time is now for wholesome relationships.”

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The publish, which has over 53 thousand views, drew reward from numerous social media customers.

“YOU GO GIRL. YOU make me pleased with my dwelling state ” wrote one commenter, whereas one other replied, “I simply received chills. She’s superb!”

Added a 3rd, “What a tremendous technique to take your energy again. I received goosebumps. I do know there are different victims watching her now realizing they aren’t alone.”

In a press release to PEOPLE, Smith says that: “As Miss Kansas, my platform is deeply rooted in empowering folks to interrupt free from cycles of home violence and unhealthy relationships. My reply on stage displays my dedication to fostering a world the place each particular person feels protected, valued, and empowered to thrive.”

“Via the Miss America program, I’ve discovered a strong platform to amplify my voice and advocate for many who might really feel silenced or alone,” Smith provides. “I’ll use my story as a catalyst for change kicking open doorways to encourage others and create a society the place everybody can stay free from concern and abuse.”

Talking with the Chief and Occasions, Smith mentioned that her work with home violence victims stems from her “personal private experiences…whether or not that was in my family or my very own experiences of falling into that cycle of abuse on the age of 14.”

In an interview with NBC affiliate KSNW she went on to say that “my household, each single girl in my household, was impacted by home violence.”

Opening up some extra about her personal expertise, she mentioned that when she was 14 she “received in my first relationship, nevertheless it was additionally an abusive relationship that I used to be in till about 2018, 2019. It’s one thing that I’m nonetheless experiencing and coping with as we speak.”

In a assertion on Fb, Smith went on to say that on the evening of the Miss Kansas pageant, “my journey took an surprising flip when somebody I’ve been therapeutic from tried to disrupt my peace. As an alternative of falling into silence, I selected to stay out my imaginative and prescient for a greater world. I took again my energy – not only for myself, however for my goals and everybody watching and listening.”

“This isn’t about shunning others,” she added. “It’s about turning our ache into functions and channeling it in a manner that unifies and uplifts.”

Smith advised KWCH-DT she hopes to unfold her message to the youth in Kansas through the use of her abilities in ventriloquism, which was her expertise through the Miss Kansas contest, to achieve them.

“With the ability to create our personal particular ventriloquism dolls which can be full of completely different traits of wholesome relationships that they wish to see within the folks round them,” mentioned Smith, who has been doing ventriloquism for 19 years.

Smith will now go on to symbolize Kansas on the subsequent Miss America competitors in Jan. 2025.

In case you are experiencing home violence, name the Nationwide Home Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is offered 24/7 in additional than 170 languages.