Miss Michigan calls out injustice in her home state, wins over internet

Emily Sioma turned heads with her introduction about Flint, Michigan

WDIV.

It's not the winner of Sunday night's Miss America pageant, Miss New York, who has people buzzing today -- it's Miss Michigan, aka Emily Sioma, who used her introduction to the audience during the broadcast to call out the handling of the Flint water crisis.

During the introductions of Sunday night's Miss America pageant, Sioma took a direct shot at the Flint water crisis, saying, "From the state with 84 percent of the U.S. freshwater, but none for its residents to drink, I am Miss Michigan Emily Sioma.”

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Videos of Sioma's introduction quickly flooded social media, with many praising Miss Michigan for switching things up. 

Users on Twitter even noted how refreshing it was to see that Sioma used her very short introduction to talk about Flint and not about herself. 

Sioma, who hails from Grass Lake, Michigan, is no newcomer to political activism, so it's no surprise that she used her platform to speak out for the residents of Flint. Sioma is a sexual assault survivor and advocate, and she even protested at her college graduation in honor of survivors of sexual assault. 

 

While Sioma didn't make the top 15, is there some sort of Miss Congeniality prize that Sioma can win, except maybe call it Miss Advocate?


About the Author:

Jack is a Digital Content Editor with a degree in creative writing and French from Western Michigan University. He specializes in writing about movies, food and the latest TV shows.