Black Women Top Major Beauty<br />Pageant Competitions in 2019.<br />Zozibini Tunzi of South Africa was officially named<br />Miss Universe on Dec. 8, making her the fourth black<br />woman to win a major beauty pageant in 2019.<br />The other 2019 winners were Kaliegh Garris as Miss Teen USA,<br />Nia Franklin as Miss America and Cheslie Kryst as Miss USA.<br />The combination of these wins marks a historic moment,<br />as it is the first time that the top prizes in four major beauty<br />pageants have been simultaneously awarded to black women. .<br />According to Hilary Levey Friedman, a visiting<br />professor at Brown University, these wins signify<br />a necessary expansion of inclusion and equality.<br />The idea of what we think is beautiful<br />has expanded … Skin color. Body type.<br />Curly hair. If you look at all this year’s<br />winners, they look like themselves, Hilary Levey Friedman, via ’The New York Times'.<br />In her Miss Universe closing address, Tunzi described<br />the significance of her win and the impact she hopes it has. .<br />I grew up in a world where a woman who looks<br />like me, with my kind of skin and my kind of<br />hair, was never considered beautiful … I think it<br />is time that stops today. I want children to look<br />at me and see my face. And I want them to<br />see their faces reflected in mine, Zozibini Tunzi, via ‘The New York Times'
