Janelle "Penny" Commissiong

"The George Floyd incident was a perfect storm — for the world to see and understand that these changes have to be made."

"Without George Floyd we wouldn’t have seen all the rest that’s happened over the past few months, or understood what’s at the root of parts of America."

"It’s an issue that’s touched the whole world, with protests everywhere, wherever there are people of colour."

"I had just moved back to Trinidad, so I did it for promotion. I hadn’t been there for some years and wanted people to know who I was. I went into a local pageant without any expectations."

"Only when we got there did I realize that I was really in a competition."

"I’d never even been on a stage before. Seeing the competitive spirit around beauty was very interesting."

"Except we never saw a black contestant on the cover."

"We weren’t seeing ourselves in the papers at all. We figured we were there just to make up the numbers"

"I had never before in my life felt second place or second class, so that was all new to me."

"A person of colour was not a typical beauty."

"It was a hostile industry, but over the years I think I earned their respect."

"may help young people coming up have a sense of our history."

"There are so many pre-conceived notions of what '60' is first and foremost 'old'."

"Retirement has traditionally been tied to the 60s and that image hangs over it, but it just doesn't fit."

"looks."One of the things I'm thankful for is that I have all my original body parts."

"No fillers, no replacements, no substitutes."This seems miraculous in a world she recognises as revolving around instant beauty at all costs."

"costs."Everything is Hollywood. Everything is instant. Everyone strives for perfection the perfect look."

"In the quest for perfection the line keeps moving."

"Responsibility dictates behaviour and winning never dictated how I lived my life."