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Miss Black World New York

Vickie of New York, NY, writes:

My daughter has been reigning queen of the MBWNYO Miss Black World Teen 2000.  I feel she is being used as slave labor to promote the interest of the person running the pageant.  This person refuses to allow parental input even though my daughter is a minor.  She wants total control of everything, even down to not allowing my daughter to give out her personal business cards at different events.  She refuses to allow her to network or develop her own contacts at these events.  

The contract threatens to take back the trophies that were legitimately won by my daughter and it even states that MBWYNO receives 35% of the proceeds of any commercial contracts my daughter might receive for two years after her reign is over.   The contract only benefits MBWNYO.  

She is not chaperoned properly when attending events and has to travel alone to various places.  She has been sent to different functions only to find out that she was given the wrong address which has caused her great embarrassment and much grief and fear.  She has been left waiting for hours in subways, in the wee hours of the morning for the MBWNYO court to arrive and they never show up.  

This pageant pays for nothing, the queen has to provide for herself (or the parent has to provide) in order to get to the events.

Now they are trying to force my daughter to resign because I have confronted them on many issues that I feel are not in the best interest of my daughter.  

This should have been a wonderful experience for my daughter, instead it has been a nightmare.  There has been great expense and outlay of money on my part, but none from the organization.  They have slandered my daughter by calling her "Ghetto Queen" when she has always been poised and professional at any event that she appeared at.  

How do we get the prizes that are rightfully hers?  They won't allow her to keep the crown and sash which is her prize and belongs to her.  Aren't they supposed to give up all the prizes that they originally said would be hers if she won?  It seems that they won't give her the prizes until her reign is over.  They never said how much the savings bonds would be, there was never a coronation dinner, and they are saying that her prizes will be determined by her adherence to their wishes.  In other words, they must control everything and not for her benefit, but for theirs.  

I think this type of organization should be exposed for exploiting our children.  This is not a stepping stone to another pageant, it is slave labor. 

The contact may very well be unfair but that doesn't mean it's not valid.  This illustrates why it's so important to read every contract carefully.  Once you sign, it's too late.  Vickie needs to read the contract she signed very carefully to see if the pageant has broken any of its terms.  If so, she could take her case to Small Claims Court or hire an attorney. 

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