The featured speaker for the Aiken Standard’s Women Today luncheon on Oct. 17 encouraged the members of her audience not to be victims and to support each other through both good and bad times.
While delivering those messages, Dawn Smith Jordan talked about her own life experiences and sang during her presentation at Newberry Hall.
In 1985, Larry Gene Bell kidnapped and murdered Jordan’s younger sister, Shari Faye Smith.
Jordan still gets emotional when she talks about that tragedy, but she doesn’t want people to pity her.
“If y’all [think you] are looking at a woman who is a victim, that’s not all there is to this chick because my story is not over,” she said. “And neither is yours. One of my pastors used to say, ‘If you ain’t dead, God ain’t done [with you].’
“Well, we ain’t dead. And as long as we have this day, our story is still being written,” Jordan continued.
“Whatever has happened to you does not have to define who you are. You have a choice: I can be a victim or I can choose to walk in victory.”
Jordan said she opted to “walk the victorious life.”
In 1986, Jordan received a Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance from Columbia College.
Also that year, she won the Miss South Carolina title.
In the 1987 Miss America pageant, Jordan was the second runner-up.
She got married in 1988 and had two children, but later became a single mother, which she has said was not by choice.
Jordan, who is a published author and a charting recording artist, told the Women Today luncheon’s attendees that the assistance she received from others allowed her to overcome setbacks and find success.
“If we stick together as women and celebrate each other and come alongside each other, we can make it one day at a time,” she said. “Sometimes it’s a word of encouragement that makes a difference. Sometimes it’s a hug. Sometimes it’s a listening ear. Sometimes it’s the meal that you cook that is comfort food when somebody is hurting or bereaved or sick. Each of us has been given things that are to be used as good in each other’s life.”
