Benjalie Hernandez, Ashley Diaz, and Eva Angelie Lopez. Abiba Biao Photos.
Every stitch told a different story of Puerto Rico.
For Benjalie Hernandez, it was the rising white feather, pink and purple at the tips, that brought people back to Jayuya’s rich Taíno roots—and her own—before the pain and violence of colonization. For Isonnette O’Brien, it was the cascading, luminous tulle of a purple skirt that transported people to Casada Charco Prieto and the city of Bayamón. For Alianys Ayala, the gently domed, miniature archways of Plaza del Mercado de Río Piedras conjured a sense of home.
Blink, and it was easy to miss the little details that built a bridge to centuries of cultural heritage.
Saturday, Boricua pride filled the auditorium at Fair Haven School as people gathered to celebrate, center and ultimately crown contestants in the now-annual Miss Puerto Rico of Greater New Haven Cultural Pageant. The event, hosted by Puerto Ricans United, Inc. (PRU), had 10 contestants, with three in the junior miss category, and seven in the Miss Puerto Rico category. It is the fourth consecutive year that the pageant has taken place in New Haven since its return in March 2023.
Contestants included Junior Miss candidates Ashley Diaz, Noelani Kelis Santana, and Eva Angelie Lopez, and Miss candidates Elizabeth Maria Lopez, Isonnette O’Brien, Lavender Davila- Lopez, Natalia Elise Santana, Benjalie Hernandez, Alianys Ayala, and Taina Angeliz Torres Pineiro.
Ultimately, the winners included Hernandez, Eva Angelie Lopez, and Elizabeth Maria Lopez as the inaugural Miss Inspiración. Members of PRU’s Board said that the final title was intended “to celebrate and uplift young ladies of all abilities.”
“It's giving a chance for young girls, middle school and high schoolers, to portray their culture, their tradition, to show where they come from,” PRU Spokesperson Jhonnathan Rivera said of the event. He added that the competition is no easy feat: contestants go through three months of rigorous classes and rehearsals, during which they take lessons in Puerto Rican history, dance, and culture.
The pageant works closely with other cultural institutions in the area, including Movimiento Cultural Afro-Continental (MCAC) and Viva Dance & Fitness Center, where students learn the history and legacy of Afro-Caribbean bomba. The intention, Rivera said, is to prepare them fully for a pageant that includes public speaking, cultural costumes, a personal talent portion, and interviews with the judges.
In addition to Rivera, this year’s judges included Pageant Directors Anika Russell and Samary Agosto-Polnett, as well as organizer and co-emcee Liz Quiñones.
During a portion of the pageant dedicated to cultural literacy through fashion, art, and design, that pride for Puerto Rico was on full display.
Sound School junior Hernandez, for instance, represented Miss Jayuya, a mountain town in central Puerto Rico. As she glided out onto the stage, Hernandez’s costume referenced her Taíno roots with a nagua, a white loincloth based clothes of Taíno traditional wear. The nagua is now worn as regalia for ceremonies such as pow wows.
Displayed on the left side of her skirt was a Toa symbol, which references Taíno mythology. According to stories passed down through oral history, the symbol comes from the belief htat the the god Guahoyona abducted all of the women of the island, leaving the children crying out for their mothers.
On Hernandez’ back was a three-dimensional depiction of El Sol de Jayuya (the Sun of Jayuya), an ancient Taíno petroglyph representing the sun as a revered god. On the back of her depiction of El Sol de Jayuya was Jajuya’s flag, with a small, yellow Sol de Jayuya symbol underneath.
In her right hand, Hernandez wielded a ceremonial staff dedicated to Atabey, an ancestral Taíno deity who represents Mother Earth and the moon.
O’Brien, who is this year a senior at Common Ground High School and last year was crowned a princess in the pageant, came on representing Miss Bayamón. As she paused and posed to show off details of her outfit, O’Brien’s highlighted the ecological diversity of the island, with a white top, frilly light blue and violet maxi skirt and white, sparkly high heels.
Each held layers of meaning as she showed off her handiwork to the judges. Across her top were vibrant pink flor de maga, Puerto Rico’s national flower. The skirt, emcees explained, symbolizes Casada Charco Prieto, a well known waterfall within Bayamón’s lush coastal plain. Resting atop her head was a sugar flower crown, a nod to the island’s first hydraulic sugarcane refinery system founded by Gonzalo de Santa Olalla in 1548.
O’Brien pulled up her skirt to reveal a message on her stockings: “The only thing more powerful than hate is love,” an allusion to Bad Bunny’s Superbowl performance in February.
Elizabeth Maria Lopez, 18, represented Miss Adjuntas. A senior at Wilbur Cross High School, Lopez flaunted an olive green dress and flower crown, emblematic of the region’s biodiversity. The back of her sign features Adjuntas’ coat of arms, a region known for its coffee production.
Meanwhile, Taina Angelis Torres Pineiro (pictured below) strutted her stuff as Miss Toa Baja, the second contestant to show off a gold-colored Sol de Jayuya. A junior at East Haven High School, Torres Pineiro sported the traditional wear of a Taino village chief or cacique, with an ethereal twist with the addition of wings.
Draped in white and gold, Pineiro’s wings symbolized "resilience of Puerto Rican people and their ability to thrive above adversity," Quiñones read aloud. Six cultural landmarks and images of the region appeared across her wings, including San Pedro Apóstol Church and pictures of mangrove forests and marine life.
Ayala, who for years has competed in the Junior Miss category, carried with her one of the most involved costumes of the event, representing Miss Río Piedras. A freshman at Hill Regional Career High School, Ayala very much brought Río Piedras to Fair Haven, with a three-dimensional skirt model of Plaza del Mercado de Río Piedras. Dangling from her ears were book-shaped earrings, a nod to the University of Puerto Rico’s Río Piedras campus.
The costumes kept coming, each more dazzling than the next. That was true, for instance, for Natalia Elise Santana, who appeared as Miss Coamo. A sophomore at Academy of Our Lady of Mercy Lauralton Hall, Santana sported a shimmering dress in different shades of blue, a fitting reference for Coamo's waterways and the Baños de Coamo, or Coamo hot springs, which are often described as a “fountain of youth.” At the bottom of her dress, the year 1847 appeared in sparkling lettering, referencing the development of the hot springs.
Tucked neatly in her hair was a bright blue feather, paying homage to her Indigenous Taíno heritage. Across her arm, silver chains represented Puerto Rico’s relationship with slavery, which was formally abolished on the island in 1873.
Lavender Davila-Lopez, meanwhile, showed out as Miss Caguas. A sophomore at Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School, Davila-Lopez strutted across the stage in a custom white jumpsuit. On her back was an image of the Reloj De Flores, a 1960’s Caguas landmark. Billowing behind her was the Puerto Rican flag, fashioned into a cape.
That love for Puerto Rican people, culture and cuisine extended far beyond the auditorium itself, and felt right at home in the heart of Fair Haven. As the pageant went into intermission, Angie Rosario and Anjaneé Davis satiated sweet-toothed and hungry attendees with batches of tres-leches cakes, quesitos, flan, and pastelillos de guayaba, a flaky puff pastry filled with guava paste and topped with powdered sugar.
Davis, a sports medicine major at CT State Gateway (formerly Gateway Community College) who is graduating this year, is celebrating her first year in business as Nae’s Sweet Escape. From making tres leches and strawberry cupcakes for friends and family upon request, the endeavor quickly morphed into an entrepreneurial venture. She launched the business last April.
“I work part time at [a] Walgreens Pharmacy, and I really just started this as like a second job, basically,” she said. “But it's just something that just came to me naturally.”
A Naugatuck resident, Davis turned out to Fair Haven after a customer entered her as a vendor for the pageant. Her favorite thing about being a business owner is “meeting new faces and getting to connect with people,” she said, adding that baking and pastry making also serves as an artistic outlet.
“There's so many things you can make, so many decorations you could do,” she said. “Like, I just love it.”
At another table was mother-daughter duo Kamila Medina and Paola Acosta of Floral Affairs CT. For Acosta, the Miss Puerto Rico of Greater New Haven contests holds great significance, because it was the first event she vended at when she first founded her business last April. That first time, she brought a sign that read: “Every Queen Deserves Her Flowers.”
A year later, she described the community support she received from her business as “amazing,” and underlined the cultural camaraderie, with people all across the Latin American diaspora assembling for the event.
“It feels amazing to actually be back, for them, you know, to trust me once again, especially just being a rookie in this industry,” Acosta said. “So it feels amazing being here again and everyone's still enjoying the setup. Everyone's enjoying the idea of having a bloom bar, coming to the events.”
Acosta also has a deep history with the island. Hailing from Añasco, a city on the west coast of the island, she moved from Puerto Rico to Fair Haven when she was 9 years old. As a proud Fair Havener and Boricua, she described it as “the best of both worlds together.”
In the future, Acosta hopes to open a brick and mortar, as well as hosting flower vending machines, for people to easily get flowers at various locations, an idea she said she has yet to see in the state.
Also in attendance were other queens such as Amelianysse Hernandez, Jazmarie Ramos, Taylor Gonzalez, and Leoni Alvarez - all junior miss contestants in the Miss Puerto Rico of Fairfield County pageant.
For Leoni, getting into pageantry took a bit to get used to, but something she eventually grew to love.
“At first I was like, ‘Hmm, I don't know, I’ll just try it.’ I slowly started getting into it, but I'm like, ‘Oh, this is way more than just like a beauty pageant, stuff like that,’” the 13-year-old said. “It's way more into my heritage, sisterhood, and I learned so much more about my culture. I'm so excited and I'm so grateful to be a part of it.”
Ramos also highlighted the personal reflection and history she experienced from the pageant.
“I’ve learned more about Puerto Rican history, I’ve learned more about inspiring Puerto Ricans, I’ve learned more about what goes on in Puerto Rico,” she said, adding that the event also helped her learn how to carry self confidence
Amelianysse Hernandez, who has been in pageantry since she was 6, said that the pageant is meaningful, fostering sisterhood and lifelong connections. Now at 13, she said that she finally recognized the cultural significance as she grew older
“Every year it's just like, I create new bonds with ladies that I can go and talk to throughout the whole year, and just more history about like, our woman, the women that fought for our independence and all that”.
When asked about their favorite part of the event, Amelianysse didn’t hesitate. “Seeing all the ladies and their talents and their confidence, talking on the stage. I love it!” she exclaimed.