Trinidad and Tobago has plenty of historic milestones to claim, but chief among them is giving the world its very first black Miss Universe, Janelle “Penny” Commissiong.
July 16 marked 49 years since she won the crown.
“Life has been good,” she tells We Life and Culture in a recent interview. “I look forward to celebrating the 50th.”
The year was 1977. Standing on stage at the Pageant’s 26th edition in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, a 24-year-old Penny carried the backing of an entire nation. With poise and unmistakable confidence, she stood among the world’s most beautiful women and walked away with the coveted title. On the night, she remembers waiting to hear her name called as part of the top ten finalists, “as that was the first step to knowing that you were on your way.”
Did she realise at that time the significance of her achievement?
“Well, not in an overall way,” Penny, now 73, admits. “I knew that we had won and taken over the night, and by extension, we had overcome all that we experienced during the two weeks on the ground leading up to the pageant. However, it was during my reign—the course of the year—that it all unfolded.”
Unfolding it was, especially since her win came with a major plot twist: pageantry was never even on her radar. Sure, she would look at beauty shows from time to time, but didn’t give it any real consideration. Yet, that single decision changed her life.
Press coverage ahead of the finals heavily backed Miss Austria, who ultimately placed as first runner-up, while largely overlooking darker-skinned competitors. The narrative changed four days before the coronation when Penny grabbed the official Miss Photogenic title—marking a first for a black woman—and just about forced reporters and onlookers to treat her as a true contender before her landmark victory.
Back home, media stories captured the celebratory mood as crowds flooded Port-of-Spain upon her return to welcome their new icon in true Trinbagonian style. The massive street party cemented her legendary status. Then Prime Minister Dr Eric Williams declared a national holiday in her honour, ensuring the entire country could join the festivities.
“Being the first, you own it for life. There are expectations. I always say that, fortunately for me, I was a bit more mature and I had exposure prior to winning the title. I was not 19 or 20, which at the time tended to be the winning age. I think what I learned very early was that it is a job. And I basically approached it that way.”
During her time in the Dominican Republic, Penny formed natural bonds with her fellow Caribbean queens. She knew this milestone meant carrying Trinidad and Tobago—as well as the women who looked like her—onto a global platform that rarely made space for them. She became the standard.
“It was a win for every contestant who was not white-skinned or European—which is what the world at the time expected the winner to look like. And which is what the white-skinned and European contestants expected as well.”
Defying traditional pageant ideals, Penny sported a simple yet striking nape-length hairstyle rather than the elaborate cascading curls favoured by the competition. After she was announced winner, judge and legendary singer Dionne Warwick remarked that she felt as if she had won.
In the decades since, only a handful of women of colour have claimed the Miss Universe crown. That elite group includes the United States’ Chelsi Smith (1995), Trinidad and Tobago’s very own Wendy Fitzwilliam (1998), Botswana’s Mpule Kwelagobe (1999) as the first African victor, and South Africa’s Zozibini Tunzi (2019), whose reign championed natural hair and powerful social advocacy.
Asked whether she believes the pageant world has changed much for black women since her reign, Penny replies, “In recent times, there are certainly more contestants. So that you see a bit more of a mix. Some things are fairly straightforward: the more of the fairer complexion contestants you have in the competition, means the greater the competition within that group. Therefore, you stand a better chance of being seen if you’re different. My advice is always ‘Be yourself.’”
Later in life, Penny brought her signature flair to public service and national leadership. She served as vice-chair of the Tourism Development Company and subsequently became chair of the Tourism Trinidad Destination Management Company, guiding the country’s efforts to attract visitors and share its cultural heritage.
On September 22, 2017, the Port-of-Spain City Corporation honoured her by officially renaming Queen Street to Queen Janelle Commissiong Street in a special plaque unveiling ceremony.
A fitting tribute to a daughter of the soil who redefined representation and rewrote the rules of global beauty.
