Dream comes true for Black Rose princess
Michelle Kaye Washington joins royal court
“I grew up watching the Tournament of Roses Parade every New Years Day and always dreamed of being part of it,” said Michelle Kaye Washington, a first-year student at Pasadena City College (PCC).
Washington, who is active with Encompass Organization, Project Light, Ryman Arts, HROCK Choir and HROCK missions at PCC, will be doing just that this year. After enduring an intensive month-long interview process, the Pasadena native was selected as one of the seven members of the 2011 Tournament of Roses Royal Court.
In 2009 during her senior year, Washington participated in the Tournament of Roses Royal Court proceedings but did not make it to the final seven.
This year, she was chosen out of 1,100 young women. All of the young ladies women had to go through a rigorous review of public speaking, poise, academic achievement, community involvement, and personality.
“Being a Tournament of Roses Princess means taking part in history,” Washington said. “It means being a role model for my peers and being able to inspire others to pursue their own dreams and ambitions.”
Before attending PCC, Washington went to Maranatha High School and was part of a group of classmates who won in the Tournament of Roses’ “Roses on Parade” art contest. In high school, she was also was president of the art club and a member of the speech and debate team as well as the swim team and was involved in the school musical.
She plans to one day operate her own company that will provide opportunities for students to earn art scholarships.
Physicians Sampson Davis, Rameck Hunt, and George Jenkins are lucky to be alive. Surrounded by negative influences and having few positive role models as teenagers, they made a pact in high school to stick together, go to college, graduate and become doctors. That premeditated decision helped to determine the fate of these Newark, N.J., natives.
While survival, not scholastic success, was the priority for many of their peers, these three could easily have followed their childhood friends into drug dealing, gangs, and prison.
Physicians Sampson Davis, Rameck Hunt, and George Jenkins are lucky to be alive. Surrounded by negative influences and having few positive role models as teenagers, they made a pact in high school to stick together, go to college, graduate and become doctors. That premeditated decision helped to determine the fate of these Newark, N.J., natives.
While survival, not scholastic success, was the priority for many of their peers, these three could easily have followed their childhood friends into drug dealing, gangs, and prison.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — The City Council celebrated the 12th annual Jackie Robinson Day in Los Angeles today, three days before the 66th anniversary of his breaking baseball’s color line.
A bio-pic on Robinson, “42,” also opened this week.
“There’s a lot of energy out here because of the movie that’s out, but the energy has been here all along,” Councilman Ed Reyes said.
PASADENA, Calif.—Two reputed gang members pleaded not guilty today to murder charges stemming from a crash that occurred at the end of a Christmas day police chase in Pasadena, killing a Glendale woman and her 11-year-old cousin.
Darrell Lee Williams, 22, of Pasadena, and Brittany Michelle Washington, 21, of Los Angeles, are each charged with two counts of murder stemming from the deaths of Tracey Ong Tan, 25, and Kendrick Ng of Daly City.
When you watch the Tournament of Roses parade on Jan. 1, there will be a moment when history is being made. That moment will come when a float celebrating the 100th anniversary of Delta Sigma Theta sorority comes into view.
The 55-foot-long and 17-foot-high float, themed “Transforming Communities Through Sisterhood and Service” designed and built by Fiesta Parade Floats, represent the first time ever that an African American Greek-letter organization has entered a float in the 124-year-old Rose parade.
