This year Miss USA, Miss America, and Miss teen USA were all African American women. This is considered a breakthrough because this is the first time in history that all three titles have been held by black women. I believe that this is such an important accomplishment because growing up as a person of color most of the time the only models or beauty icons that we see in the media are white. One of the winners, Cheslie Kryst, wore her natural hair in the competition as a way to send a message to women of color to accept their natural beauty and to break away from the common stereotypes that have been put on women of color.
As well as being the winner of Miss USA, Kryst is also a certified lawyer who went to Wake Forest for her law degree. She uses her degree to do pro bono work for those who have been unjustly sentenced. Kryst is making her own way in the world and defying social ideologies that have placed on women of color for so long. There has been a history of black culture not being accepted in America, and as we grow as a country so do our views and I believe that this a step in the right direction for America.
Source: https://www.thecut.com/2019/05/this-year-americas-pageant-winners-are-all-black-women.html
This is an extremely important accomplishment for black women in modern times. Not only are all three of these women well accomplished in their fields of work. Among these women are a powerful lawyer who fights for legal aid for prisoners, and a talented opera singer who brings music program to children. All three of these women represent the varying successes of black women in today’s society.
I think one of the most important and interesting comments in this short article, and something you emphasized, was Kryst and Garris choice to wear their natural hair styles. For Garris, wearing her natural hair was a sign of comfort and natural beauty. For centuries, we have advertised beauty as white women, with straight hair. Beauty products and magazines cater largely towards white beauty and not all beauty. Black women and black girls are constantly shown images of beauty as white women. Only recently have product lines begun to have multiple shades of concealer, and still this is rare to find. Beauty has been consistently dominated by white faces, and I agree this is a huge step in have three black women as beauty icons. I think having three black women winning prestigious pageants is an important step in acknowledging black beauty and black accomplishments.