Pageant News Bureau - Camille Young

P a g e a n t N e w s B u r e a u

She's free, and she's 'family'

Photos courtesy of Arthur Murrell

What do you do when your dad's a prominent professor and your mom's a successful singer? If you live in Philadelphia, you do whatever you want.

Philadelphia is the cradle of liberty, where people pride themselves on making their own choices and controlling their own destinies. It's where Thomas Jefferson declared, "We hold these truths . . ." It's where Rocky Balboa followed his dream, no matter how much it hurt.

Now comes the captivating Camille V.N. Young, a 23-year-old model who is representing Philadelphia at Miss Pennsylvania USA 2003. She has the kind of beauty that Jefferson would have loved (sorry, we couldn't resist), and her footwork on the runway makes Rocky look like a stiff.

While we're speaking of 1970s pop culture, let us mention Ms. Young's mother, Debbie Sledge of Sister Sledge. If you remember "We Are Family" from 1979, then you remember grooving to the Sledge sound.

Now the groove torch has been passed. Ms. Young recently recorded her own R&B/soul demo, and she already has a reputation as a model and talent showcase host. She hopes to become the first African-American Miss Pennsylvania USA since Kim Marie Johnson did it in the 1993 cycle.

And yes, Ms. Young's father really is a professor. His name is Bernard Young, and he inspired her to excel. She's a senior at the University of Pennsylvania, and she plans to become a professor of African-American Literature.

What do you do if you're a Sister Sledge daughter and you're representing the city of Brotherly Love? You give it your best shot, just the way a pageant girl should.

P a g e a n t N e w s B u r e a u