COLUMBUS, Ohio – With a bigger voice and platform, Miss Black Ohio USA 2021 aims to improve the health of her community now and in the future.
What you need to know
- Yiema John is Miss Black Ohio USA 2021
- She wants to use her platform to better educate the black community about nutrition
- The problem is personal to them based on their previous habits
When Yiema John started the application process for Miss Black Ohio USA, she wasn’t sure if it would come to fruition.
“When I interviewed and went through the whole process, I felt there was no way I was going to get this,” said John.
But now that she does, she’s using her sash and new platform to address one problem in the black community – nutrition.
“We tend to underperform,” she said.
John is a first generation American. With her father from Sierra Leon and her mother from Haiti, she said her family always had traditional foods from both cultures.
“Such great hearty homemade meals,” said John, “but we never learned the value of diet.”
Miss Black Ohio USA 2021 also announced that she suffered from bulimia and practiced bulimia, which made learning to eat a lot more personal for her.
“I’ve just started learning a little more about how my diet affects me and my performance,” she said.
Now that April is Minority Health Month, she hopes to do the same for others and start a campaign – Nourished Minds, Thriving Lives – to educate the Black Community about nutrition.
“We have to be successful at the ground level,” she said. “What begins with what we build into our body – how do we treat ourselves every day.”
For more information, visit the Nourished Minds website, Thriving Lives.
