There are many organizations on Florida A&M University’s campus that represent a certain idea or group of people, but there was one that was missing from the list.
Jilissa Plummer, a junior theater performance student, and Sidney Fleeks, a junior public relations student, knew just what was missing and decided that it was time for FAMU to have an organization for full-figured women.
The two advocates of positive body image were on separate paths at the beginning of the process, but once they both saw that they had the same vision, they became partners to bring Crowned with Curves to life.
“Since my freshmen year, I saw the lack of representation on a positive level of plus-sized women. My friend introduced me to Sid and said that he was trying to do the same thing, so I talked to him and we combined e-boards and ideas, and this is how we created Crowned with Curves,” Plummer said.
Crowned with Curves serves to foster the growth of plus-size women personally, professionally, and politically. The organization was officially founded on Aug. 18.
“We’re going to bring something new and different to the table because we have so many plus-sized girls on campus, who are at different stages in their lives, some may not be as confident and some are extremely confident, so I feel like this is a way we can come together and help each other,” said Plummer.
Plummer added that she is aiming to showcase that not all plus-sized women hate their image, and can feel positively about the skin they are in.
The vision of CWC is not just from a woman’s perspective but aligned with a man’s to let women know that there is an extra sense of support for them.
“There is a really big pool on campus of full-figured women, and they don’t have a platform to show for themselves that they are defeating the odds of what society says they need to be, so having an organization as such on campus is a must,” said Fleeks. “It’s essential because its something no one ever talks about on campus and it’s very need.”
Shanorri Ashley, a first-year professional pharmacy student, serves as the Queen of Curves for the 2018-2019 academic school year. Ashley reflects on what it means to her to hold this title.
“It means the world to me, ever since I was little it was hard to be considered ‘curvy’ or ‘plus-sized’ or even ‘fat’ because I was used to everyone saying that to be skinny is to be beautiful. So to be considered the Queen of Curves, a word that was once used to ridicule and make fun of many women in society, makes me feel like I’m taking the power of that word back. It's truly an honor,” Ashley said.
Not only will the organization be a place to unite and empower full-figured women on campus, it will also partake in community service, host seminars, offer fashion tips, etc.
Although the organization caters to full-figured women, membership is not limited to women or men of a certain body type.
If you missed the interest meeting, reach out to CWC on its Instagram page, @crownedwithcurves.