SURVIVING THE ABUSE, SURVIVING THE RECOVERY

“Every single important woman” in Alexis Smith’s life has been affected by domestic violence, including herself. At age 14 she became trapped in the same similar cycle of abuse and despair that she won victory over several years ago. “It’s something that I’m still experiencing and dealing with today.” It’s something she will experience and deal with for the rest of her life. “He wanted full control over how I utilized my time, who I’m spending my time with.” She said the unrelenting emotional abuse poisoned their relationship, and it damaged the way she related to her close supporters. June 8, 2024, was “not a normal day” for Ms. Smith, 25, an ICU nurse. It was the day she competed against over two dozen other sparkling beauties to be crowned Miss Kansas, only the third Black woman to earn that honor. It was the day the man she was still trying to heal from tried to intimidate and break her again by his unwelcomed presence in the audience. This was her day. It did not end as victoriously for him. In her interview Ms. Smith unhesitatingly declared her goal as Miss Kansas would be to “eliminate unhealthy and abusive relation-ships.”...