Debs Make a Statement
When Jacquie Dismuke watched her daughter make her social debut Saturday night, she saw more than a black teen-ager taking her place in a predominantly white society.
She saw herself: Young. Hopeful. Making a social statement.
“I grew up in Orange County, too,” said Dismuke, mother of Miesha Hardison--voted Miss Deb by her peers. “But when I was in high school, my few black friends and I thought being a deb was a white thing. So I’ve been fantasizing. We didn’t know there was an opportunity like this.”
This was the “Festival of Flowers,” the debutante ball at the Anaheim Hilton staged by the Orange County Chapter of the Links Inc.--a national organization founded in 1946 to promote educational, cultural and civic activities for black women.
During a deb get-together last week, Suzanne Fagins, 16, said the upcoming ball would be her chance to play Cinderella. “It’s a night to shine,” Suzanne said. “All of the girls feel like they’re going to be Cinderellas with Prince Charmings escorting them down the stairs.”
Black Prince Charmings, reminded Jamette Heard, 16. “The important thing is that our escorts are our color. That’s something we’ve had a problem with in Orange County.”
Jamette had hit home--the smiling debs had begun to frown.
“Living in Orange County can be painful,” ventured Erika Mines, 16. “You want to go out and have fun, but you don’t know where to go.”
The problem? Black boys not wanting to date black girls, said Michelle Vavasseur, 18. “It’s nice to live here, but at my school--University in Irvine--the black guys are dating anyone but us. “
Why? “Because they feel Orange County black girls have attitudes,” offered Miesha, 16. “That all we’re after is money and cars.”
It’s just not so, Suzanne said. And becoming a Links debutante helps the girls prove it. Since January, the 13 debs and their escorts have met weekly for workshops and meetings.
“And the guys are learning ,” Suzanne said, breaking into a smile. “They’re starting to get a more open view of black girls their age.
“They’re finding we’re not looking for money; we’re looking for somebody nice who understands--somebody we can talk to. Being the same color, we go through things every day that aren’t about boy or girl, but about black and white.”
Ten years from now, Suzanne said, “I’ll think back on how fortunate I was, living in a white society, to have something like this deb experience offered to me.
“I’ll show my kids my dress and my deb book and say: ‘I was presented as a beautiful, black Cinderella, and it was my moment to shine.’ And my kids will know there’s a place out there where black Americans can socialize in a white society.”
Also making their debuts on Saturday night were Temre Britt, Datiana Dias, Kimberly Glass, TaShanna Houston, Maiyma Houston, Margo Payne, Kenya Shaw and Sherinda Tape, deb president.
Escorts were Theophilus Massey, Sean Young, Randy Brown, Daniel McClellan, Travis Anderson, Hakeim McKenzie, Fred Forbes, Barry Joyner, Bernard Daniels, Dion Green, Eugene Mays, Charles Crayton and Edward Lindsey.
Now there’s an idea: What’s the first thing party-goers examine after they’re seated at the dinner table? The menu, natch.
Fair Share 502, a social/fund-raising club that regularly sups at Five Feet Too restaurant in Newport Center, knows that. So the club had statistics printed on the back of the menus that dotted the tables at last week’s benefit for Share Our Selves--a Costa Mesa facility that helps Orange County’s homeless.
Among the sobering statistics: 32 is the median age of the local homeless population. Forty-eight percent of the homeless are single. Sixteen percent are homeless for three years. And half are homeless because they’ve lost their jobs.
“We’re seeing so many people now who never dreamed they’d need help,” said Jean Forbath, founder and executive director of Share Our Selves. “Professional people--engineers, salesmen.” Forbath attended with her husband, Frank.
More than 150 guests shelled out $502 per couple for the feast cooked up by chefs from Five Feet Too, Five Feet in Laguna Beach, Antoine at Le Meridien Hotel and Pascal in Newport Beach, Bangkok Four in Costa Mesa and the Hobbit in Orange.
The benefit was staged as part of a nationwide “Taste of the Nation” food happening in support of the homeless coordinated by Save Our Strength in Washington.
Asked about the name of the support group, Peter Zeughauser (its president), said he knew it seemed strange to use 502--the numbers synonymous with a drunk-driving citation--for a support group.
“We thought about it and decided we didn’t care,” said the Irvine Co. exec. “We wanted to charge $500 for this annual dinner and it was always going to be held at Five Feet Too, so the numbers just added up.”