Life Lectures for Teens®
"I'm now a spokesperson for everything I survived-bullying, abuse, neglect."-Ms. Pageant winner shares story of poverty, abuse during childhood. By Emma D. Sapong, Newstaff Reporter Twenty years ago, Dawn Basham was immersed in a dysfunctional world and could only trade the poverty, physical and sexual abuse at home for stints in the Today she's a reigning pageant winner, juggling fulfilling careers as a vocalist, actress, model and motivational speaker. "I'm now a spokesperson for everything I surivived-bullying, abuse, neglect," Basham said. "My brother and I really overcame the worst any children could overcome." Last week she met with She is the current Ms. United States Woman. "I was really inspired by her words; it's really neat that she's anti-bullying," said eighth-grader Tyler Welsh. It's pretty cool how she was picked on when she was little and now she's popular and famous." Kathy Graziadei, a guidance counselor, said Basham was invited to tell her story and offer inspiration to the students. During the assembly, Basham conjured memories of her past when she held up a photograph of a girl for pupils to see. The auditorium erupted in laughter and then shock when Basham revealed she was the chubby -faced girl with the unflattering haircut. "I was teased and bullied because of the way I looked, but my family was poor," she said. "My mother would cut my hair. I didn't have any control over my appearance." Basham encouraged the pupils to speak up, be mindful of their posture and to make eye contact. "Bullies are not going to target a person who makes eye contact and is confident, " she said. Basham, now 32, living in South Florida, was born to a teenage mother in Kenmore and lived in the Sheridan Parkside, Riverside and Kenmore neighborhoods during her middle school and elementary and middle school years. "We had no money and were on welfare, " she said. "We didn't have a car. I remember taking the bus everywhere." Basham and her brother, Jay, who is 10 months older, were physically and sexually abused by their mother's companions and friends when they moved to Sheridan Parkside. We were always running to escape the abuse, so we would end up at the detention center," she said. Basham said she spent up to four months at the detention center and foster homes during her childhood. Her brother who is an optometrist and and also a history teacher at the middle school, had a longer stay of a year, she said. She was sent to live with an aunt in Williamsville when she was 12 and graduated from Since then she's done catalogue and live modeling for major retailers and designers, cable and network stations. Basham has also appeared in films as well as the TV shows "Law & Order" and "Sex and the City". She's a spokesperson for many causes, including organizations dealing with child abuse and neglect, and speaks about those issues to students across the country. She is also a jazz vocalist, appearing in a She was crowned Ms. United States Woman in July in "I visualized having a crown placed on my head so many times as a kid that when it happened , it felt natural," she told the pupils. "Dream it, and you can do it." email: esapong@buffnews.com ********************************************************************************** FRONT PAGE-JAMESTOWN POST Ms. A ‘Beautiful’ Visit Standing in the middle of a group of P-J photo by S. Alexander Gerould By S. ALEXANDER GEROULD 3/21/2007 - Speaking to students at Holding up a picture of herself when she was younger, Ms. Basham asked the students if anyone would have been friends or accepted her. Most of the audience had varied opinions about allowing her into their group of friends. ‘‘We do, unfortunately, get judged by how we look,’’ she said. ‘‘For me it wasn’t an option. So I got picked on quite a bit ... and I became a target.’’ Ms. Basham said improving an individual’s body language can go a long way in improving a person’s mental image of himself. She said she would walk down the halls of her school, face down and her arms crossed. She also wrung her hands, slouched and mumbled. ‘‘Walking down the hall if I saw a new person I would look away,’’ she said. ‘‘When we try to hide the bad, we’re also hiding the good. You give off a certain impression when you face the world like this.’’ Ms. Basham talked to students about ways to portray themselves successfully at job interviews. She said men and women should dress appropriately when meeting with a potential employer. ‘‘There are certain choices you have to make when going for a job interview in the real world,’’ she said. ‘‘The important thing is to make the impression you are the one they want for the job. She also said it was important to be ‘‘open and calm and make eye contact’’ when interviewing and to look like you’re paying attention. Bullying, according to Ms. Basham, doesn’t end after graduating from school. She said not liking an individual may be based on jealousy, fear or other factors, but people do have the option of making good choices, ‘‘We do that to people in life we meet,’’ she said of bullying. ‘‘We decide we don’t like them in just an instant. Sometimes we see in a mirror something we don’t like about ourselves.’’ She urged the students to be ‘‘personally responsible’’ for their actions. ‘‘You’re always going to be in social situations,’’ Ms. Basham said. ‘‘You have a choice and I hope you make the right choice. You have the power within you to decide what your future will be. I don’t regret any aspect of my history. I feel everything has prepared me for where I am now.’’ Ms. Basham, a graduate of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy of New York City, captured the 2006 Ms. United States crown in LINDA CONNER LAMBECK lclambeck@ctpost.com Article Launched:10/26/2006 04:48:25 AM EDT BRIDGEPORT — A Bassick High School security guard has been suspended after he picked the wrong moment to make a disparaging comment about Puerto Ricans, according to school officials Dawn Basham, a beauty queen whose platform includes promoting respect among races and preventing bullying, was on her way to the Bassick library to speak to students Tuesday when she said she heard school security officer Tyrone Kingwood yell at two female students, "I'm not Puerto Rican, so I'm not stupid!" It stopped her in her tracks. "I asked him if I heard him correctly and he said, 'yes.' I said I couldn't believe an adult would say that to children," Basham said Wednesday. Kingwood then became belligerent, according to witnesses interviewed by police called to the scene. "He started yelling, 'Who does she think she is? I'm running this place! She thinks she's in charge. I'm in charge!' " Basham quoted Kingwood as saying. The guard was summoned to the principal's office, then returned to the library, disrupting Basham's talk, according to the speaker and two teachers, who were so upset they filed the report with police. Teacher Patricia Sutherlan told police Kingwood was acting in a rude and threatening manner. Teacher Janet Wilson said the security officer acted in a disorderly manner that made her so nervous she felt uncomfortable reporting it. Kingwood told police he was joking with students and that he was the one being harassed. He refused to give a written statement, but told police he planned to file a harassment complaint against his accusers. Mel Wearing, the director of school security, on Wednesday called Kingwood's conduct inappropriate and added such behavior would not be tolerated. He said the guard, who has worked for the school system several years, was suspended for "a couple of days," but not arrested. "The gist of it is this was a civil matter and something that was handled administratively," Wearing said. Kingwood, who is in his 30s, could not be reached for comment. Bassick Principal Ronald Remy said Wednesday he was still trying to sort out the details of what transpired. "I didn't see it happen & The security guard is not in today," Remy said, adding that harassment is misconduct he takes very seriously. Wearing's office, he said, is investigating the incident. Basham, 31, a "I teach kids about overcoming obstacles," she said, adding she draws from a background of growing up poor in the projects of Basham went on to become a model, actress and speaker. "I try to teach kids that no matter what they are going through in school, it's only temporary. I teach about conflict resolution, about bullies and what makes us bully," she said. "I teach them how, in the moment they want to judge somebody, to examine where it's coming from, stop it and choose something different." She added it's one thing to see students act up but a more serious matter to see a grown man screaming at girls he is hired to protect. "I would never ignore something like that...never," she said. Wearing a sash identifying her as "Ms. United States," Basham spent the day at Bassick, working with three groups of students and meeting many others who responded to her message. PROTECTING CHILDREN FROM EXPLOITATION [ South Florida Sun - Sentinel - Author: COMPILED BY TINA DE LA FE Date: Sep 1, 2006 Start Page: 3 Section: COMMUNITY NEWS (Copyright 2006 by the Sun-Sentinel) Name: Dawn Basham, 31 Residence: Birthplace: Education: Graduate of The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Career: Vocalist for weddings and special events; part-time model and actor. Appeared in films such as Minotaur and Down to You; on TV in Dateline, Law & Order, Sex and the City, commercials and infomercials, and in print ads and catalogues. Family:grandmother Ida Christian, 84, of Cause: Child Lures Prevention Q. Describe your volunteer work. A. Since winning the Ms. South Florida-United States Woman title in October 2005, I've been speaking at schools, and using my titles to promote what I'm teaching. I won Ms. Q. What is your platform? A. My big platform is the prevention of the exploitation and abuse of children. I was abducted at about age 4. I wandered off from where I lived in the projects of Q. How do you spread the word about preventing child abduction? A. With Child Lures Prevention, I go into the schools to teach kids about common lures. We also teach kids that they have the right to not have someone touch them in a private area. As a child, I didn't know I had the right to personal boundaries. Q. How did you decide to volunteer? A. I've been volunteering for about a decade. Actually, it was right when I decided to go into therapy for what happened to me as young child. It was empowering for me to work with a charity that was keeping kids safe, to know I was preventing something from happening to them. Also, my grandmother, even at 84 still has time to help everyone else. She's active at Q. What have you gained? A. It's been a healing experience for me. It makes me feel like my history was not for nothing. It was so that I could be closer to the kids I'm reaching in the schools. Q. Aside from money, what does your cause need the most? A. What it really needs is to be a mandatory part of the school curriculum. They have mandatory sentences for predators that are convicted, but don't have mandatory prevention. Predators have these lures that are proven to work. Shouldn't we be teaching the lures? Q. What advice would you give to others who want to volunteer? A. Find something that you can relate to, something that you're passionate about. That's what started it for me. I went through the Yellow Pages -- it was before the Internet -- for something that touched my heart. For more information on Dawn Basham, visit her Web site at www.dawnbasham.com. If you know a [Illustration] PHOTO; Caption: KEEPING KIDS SAFE: Dawn Basham is the current Ms. United States Woman. The pageant recognizes the accomplishments of women 30 and older. Staff photo/Nicholas R. Von Staden Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission. ********************************************************** Delray pageant winner tours schools to teach kids about danger of strangers By Pilar Ulibarri De Rivera Wednesday, August 23, 2006 Before Dawn Basham talks to children, she shows them a picture. The photo shows a poor, awkward-looking 12-year-old kid with a mullet, crooked teeth, covered in pimples and slouched like a question mark. Then, she tells them the sad story of the little girl's life. Dawn Basham recently won the Ms. United States Woman, a new beauty pageant for women older than 30, in "Do you think she's going to make it in this world?" she asks the children. "They almost always tell me 'no, she's never gonna make it.'" "Well," she tells them. "That little girl is me, Ms. United States." In July, the poised 31-year-old woman from Participants in the pageant have to be actively involved in the community and working on a cause. Basham's main platform is a 22-year-old national program that empowers children to stay away from potential sexual predators. During the school year, she talks about different topics at about three schools a week. But she has a real passion for the Child Lures Prevention program. "We talk to the children about how adults manipulate, use or short-circuit a kid's better judgment," Basham said. "We tell them to listen to their instincts." She tells them if they have a terrible feeling in their stomach, they have the right to say something. "Your instincts are there to protect you," she tells them. As the child of a single, young mother on food stamps, living in the projects of When she was 5 years old, Basham was abducted and sexually molested by a stranger, she said. "First, he asked me if I knew a girl named Julie," Basham said, explaining the molester technique known as the help lure. "Then, he told me he'd give me money if I sat with him for a while - that's the money lure." She was a poor kid whose feet always hurt from her tight shoes so it was hard for her to say no to money. Basham was molested that day, she said. From then on she said, "it's like I had a target on my head." Basham said the nightmare continued when two male acquaintances molested her, and she got bad grades because she couldn't sleep and was bullied at school. "I spent years in therapy," Basham said. Eventually, she went from that stand-offish, awkward kid to pageant contestant. At 15, her aunt entered her in Miss Teen Empire State All-American. "I was so nervous when I was on stage that when they asked me where I lived, I couldn't remember," Basham said. Now Basham, who moved to And winning this contest will allow her to bring more attention to the issue of sexual predators, Basham said. Not to mention she got prizes, which included a $10,000 pair of diamond earrings, a diamond ring, a two-year modeling contract and a Luis Vuitton purse. "I walked into this suite and there were all these beautiful things, just for me," said Basham, who likened it to Christmas, but not the kind she ever got. "I'm no longer the girl without a voice. "I'm the girl with a microphone." Copyright © 2006, The FRONT PAGE FAMILY PRIDE... Ms. United States Woman Dawn Basham pauses for a picture with her brother Jay after she spoke last week with 
Buffalo News/Associated Press
THE
FRONT PAGE-Ms. Cinderella U.S.A.-3/25/2007
**********************************************************************************
FRONT PAGE OF
*********************************************************************************
*****************************************************************************
