On December 14, 23-year-old Toni-Ann Singh from Jamaica was officially crowned Miss World 2019 and it’s kind of a big deal — for a couple of reasons.
First, not only Toni-Ann is the first black woman since Agbani Darego of Nigeria to win the competition back in 2001, but — and here's the big one — it's the first time ever that all five major beauty pageant crowns have been held by black women.
Toni-Ann’s crowning comes hot off the heels of 26-year-old Zozibini Tunzi from South Africa, who won her Miss Universe 2019 crown less than a week ago. The duo joins Kaliegh Garris, Cheslie Kryst, and Nia Franklin who also claimed the title of Miss Teen USA, Miss USA and Miss America, respectively, this year.
These five women are updating the face of the global pageant scene and fans are understandably ecstatic about their wins. “Black women are dominating the pageant world, and changing the stereotype one victory at a time,” said Zalayna Jenkins, a fellow pageant competitor. “It truly gives us young black women who want to be involved in pageantry HOPE, that we too can be accepted and win against a system that was not designed for us.”
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Others stressed how important this moment was historically. “Miss South Africa, the representative of a country with history involving apartheid, is black, has a short FADE and just won Miss Universe, a BEAUTY pageant. It's huge, and it's wonderful, and I'm so happy for her, I can't imagine the adversity she met along this journey,” a fan tweeted.
In all, 2019 shaped up to be a pretty powerful year for black women in pageants. Jazell Barbie Royale made history in March by being the first black woman to win Miss International Queen, a beauty pageant for transgender women all around the world. This year’s pageant winners also promoted a range of activist causes, including combating climate change and gendered violence.
As for Toni-Ann, her celebration plan is simple. “‘We are going to pray first and thank God,” she explained. “And then we’re going to eat lots of cake.” Us too, Toni-Ann. Us too.
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