Volume 3, Issue No. 67
OPINION/COMMENTARY
/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /
. . . . . A community service of The Filipino Web Channel (TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail. com) and the Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . . . . .
Our latest as of Friday, July 1, 2022
~ Members of the Filipino-American community in Texas, USA are so enthused with the prospect of having a Miss America in the person of a young Fil-Am lawyer who won last week the title of Miss Texas. Averie Danielle Bishop, daughter of a Filipino immigrant mother from South Cotabato, and a Texan father, will compete for the crown in Connecticut in December.
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AVERIE DANIELLE BISHOP
Young Filipino-American Lawyer Is Miss Texas
She's on her way to compete for the Miss America title
By GUS MERCADO
Guest Writer
HOUSTON, Texas - A young Filipino-American lawyer has made history as the first Asian-American woman to win the title of Miss Texas.
Averie Danielle Bishop was crowned on June 25 and will compete in the Miss America pageant in Connecticut in December.
She is a first-generation Filipino-American, born to a Filipino immigrant mother, Marevi Sabalilang, who hails from Banga, South Cotabato, Philippines, and fourth-generation Texan Danny Bishop. Her younger brother Teddy is in the U.S. Army.
"All Filipino-Americans in our state, especially in the Dallas-Forth Worth Metroplex, brimmed with pride when our very own Averie Danielle Bishop won the Miss Texas crown last Saturday, June 25th," according to officials of the Philippine American Chamber of Commerce Texas.
Consul Ethel Mercado and this writer honored Miss Bishop with the PACC Founders’ Award as “Most Outstanding Young Leader in Texas.”
Averie put herself through college, earning double degrees from the prestigious Southern Methodist University, including a bachelor's degree with a double major in political science and human rights, and a Juris Doctor degree with a 3.9 GPA.
Her impressive credentials also include serving as a legal intern for the President and Vice President of SMU, addressing higher education policy in Third World countries, Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation Fellow, and Texas Women's Museum Woman of the Year awardee. She was appointed by the mayor of Dallas as a council member of their new Anti-Hate and Discrimination Advisory Council.
Serving the community is her way of paying back, she says in an interview, explaining: "Growing up in very challenging circumstances with parents who sacrificed so much for me to become the force of nature that I am today.”
Averie spent a sometimes painful childhood in Prosper, a town within the Dallas-Forth Worth metro area, where she was confronted with bullies and hateful language.
“From the way I spoke, the shape of my eyes, my flat nose, my upbringing, the financial situation that I grew up in, sometimes the way my Mom spoke,” she recalls. "Some people say rude things because they just don’t understand what they don’t know.”
"My mission as Miss Texas and as a person is to try to teach everyone in our state that a Texan can look like me and feel equal and welcome,” she stresses.
The articulate but unassuming and down-to-earth young Filipina is also an excellent singer and dancer. Her stirring song from “Les Miserables” has won her the Most Talented award in the preliminary round of the Miss Texas beauty pageant.
At the contest, she wore a modest wardrobe. She explains: “I know wearing this costume is not typical wardrobe at a pageant. But my choice was a reflection of how far I’ve come in life. I am proud to have worn hand-me-downs, thrifted clothing, and torn-up shoes as a child.
"To me," she adds, "this costume was not a costume. It is a celebration of the rags I have shed, thanks to the village and the people who have embraced me.”
Averie is looking forward to her very hectic duties as Miss Texas while preparing for the Miss America pageant in Connecticut in December. Watch out, Miss America crown. Averie is on her way to claim you!
Watch this short clip of her powerful answer to one of the judges’ questions: “Five or ten years from now, what legacy would you hope people will remember you by?” https://www.facebook.com/allaboutmel/videos/587018376135304
(About the author: Gus Mercado is a well-known business and civic leader in Dallas, Texas. He is a recipient of the Presidential BANAAG Award for Outstanding Community Leadership. Photos by Mel Krater). Copyright 2022. All Rights Reserved.
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