Last year, the Miss America Organization made a historic announcement–that they would no longer be calling themselves a “pageant” and would now be referred to as a “competition.” This came after reports of mismanagement and poor behavior on the part of past leadership within the organization. Miss America also announced that it would be discontinuing the swimsuit portion of the program.

It was a decision that elicited some pretty polarizing responses, but a former Miss America and the current Chair of the Board of Trustees held firm to the organization’s stance. “We’re experiencing a cultural revolution in our country with women finding the courage to stand up and have their voices heard on many issues,” Carlson said last year. “Miss America is proud to evolve as an organization and join this empowerment movement.”

It’s been exactly one year since the announcement and, just last week, we had the pleasure of watching the new and improved Miss America Competiton. Those of you who tuned in, too, know that it had a much more professional tone than past years, but you’ll also likely agree that there was one, singular moment that made the whole show worth watching.

C’mon, you know the moment that we’re talking about, right?!

For those of you who didn’t see it live, it was at the top of the show, when Miss Michigan introduced herself and her state in a way that we’ve never seen before. Emma Sioma, aka Miss Michigan, walked right up to the microphone and, instead of rattling off a couple of forgettable statistics about her home state, said this…

“From the state with 84% of the US fresh water, but not enough for its residents, I am Miss Michigan.”

Yep, she went there–and, personally speaking, we were so happy she did. Talk about a refreshing Miss America Pageant–er, we mean, Competition!

24-year-old Sioma was, of course, speaking about the unconscionable fact that, since 2014, many Michiganites have been subjected to dirty water that has resulted in harmful health effects, particularly for residents of Flint, and now, Detroit school children.

Miss Michigan didn’t end up winning the competition, Miss New York did (spoiler alert!), but Sioma did steal the entire show. Just seconds after the contestant shared that very repugnant statistic concerning the mismanagement in her home state, she was officially a trending topic on social media.

The next day BuzzFeed News landed an interview with Miss Michigan. In it, she revealed her reason for shining a light on the state’s water crisis. “The issue was too important to be brushed under the rug — I was just thankful I was allowed the opportunity to represent Michigan,” Sioma said. 

She went on to explain that her intention was to make the moment “meaningful” and to “leverage [her] privilege to be a voice for people from the state who feel they’re forgotten about.”

And, that, folks, is a stellar example of the new and improved Miss America Competition. We hope more ladies will follow in Miss Michigan’s footsteps and speak up about the real issues!

To see Sioma’s impactful speech and to learn more about Michigan’s water crisis, be sure to watch the video below.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on Miss Michigan’s speech. Were you surprised that she used her moment to highlight the water crisis? Do you think she was effective in doing so? Does this put pressure on the state of Michigan to do more?