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Making History: Black Beauty Queens 2019
Zozibini Tunzi – Miss Universe 2019 “I grew up in a world where a woman who looks like me, with my kind of skin and my kind of hair is never considered to be beautiful and I think that it is time that stops today. I want children to look at me and see my face and I want them to see their faces reflected in mine.” -Zozibini Tunzi
Zozibini Tunzi is crowned Miss Universe 2019 
Zozibini Tunzi, Miss South Africa-Miss Universe 2019 **UPDATE**
On December 14th, Toni Ann Singh was crowned MISS WORLD 2019. Miss Singh is a 23 year old black woman who also holds the title of Miss Jamaica 2019:
Miss Jamaica Toni Ann Singh is now Miss World 2019 Photo from the Daily Tribute Philipphines https://tribune.net.ph/ 
Miss Jamaica Toni Ann Singh crowned Miss World 2019 Miss America, Miss Teen USA and Miss USA Are All Black Women for the First Time 
By
May 5, 2019
Despite a long history of segregation and racism, America’s top pageants have broken racial barriers in recent decades. Vanessa Williams became the first black woman to win the Miss America title in 1984. Carole Gist won Miss USA in 1990. Janel Bishop won Miss Teen USA in 1991.
Each competition has had multiple black winners since.
Last week, for the first time, black women wore the crowns of all three major pageants simultaneously.
Cheslie Kryst, 28, won the Miss USA contest, and Kaliegh Garris, 18, won Miss Teen USA. They joined Nia Franklin, 25, who was crowned as the 2019 Miss America in September.
Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/05/style/miss-teen-usa-america-black.html
ESSENCE Video shoot and interview:
CBS interview:
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Black Beauty: “Flexin’ in my Complexion”
Please, please support Flexin’ in my Complexion, the brainchild and creation of a then ten year old (now eleven) entrepreneur Kheris Rogers:
Modeling her own creation, Kheris Rogers. This image is from her website: https://www.flexininmycomplexion.com/ “Kheris Rogers can’t forget the grade school humiliation. During an assignment where the students had to draw themselves, the teacher handed the shy dark-skinned girl a black crayon instead of a brown one.
“I was the darkest of all of them,” the stunning 11 year old recalls of her classmates. “But they were all African-American.”
Rogers had earlier transferred from another school to escape the incessant bullying. It didn’t work. Her complexion set her apart, a label she couldn’t shed.
But now Rogers owns her label, literally. Her clothing line is called “Flexin’ In My Complexion.” The brand has caught fire among some big celebrities. . . ”
Read the full article by Elizabeth Elkin and Ben Burnstein on CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/20/health/sisters-anti-bullying-clothing-line-trnd/
Kheris turned this into a teachable moment. Now her clothing line is taking off!
Oscar winner Lupita N’Yongo is also proudly “Flexin’ In My Complexion.”
Lupita_Flexing in my Complexion If any reader isn’t convinced that this issue is real, please read this speech by Lupita in 2014: http://wikkidsexycool.com/2014/03/06/waiting-on-the-world-to-change/
What Kheris experienced was intra-racism. Black on black bullying due to her dark skin. For others, it can be because they’re not dark (or their outward appearance, such as their hair and features don’t appear “black”, and thus, some will claim that they’re not black enough).
Party poster based on skin color. Yes, this was created by black folks. 
Colorism isn’t limited to women. Males are affected also. I won’t post his before and after photos here, but baseball great Sammy Sosa is an example of how colorism can even affect someone with Sosa’s stature.
Representation of all the beautiful shades of brown is still needed Now, for a bit of history. Ranking black individuals is nothing new, and in America, it was practiced during slavery (lighter slaves with more white looking features worked in the Master’s home, while darker slaves usually worked in the fields). There’s the “brown paper bag test” that was used during segregation (skin color checked against a paper bag) and also a poem that went like this:
If you’re white, you’re all right
In you’re brown, stick around
If you’re black, get back . . .
Ebony Magazine article from 2000: https://preview.tinyurl.com/y8e9odhu
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Gentlemen prefer Bronze
I enjoy during research, and so I thought I’d share more vintage ads and photos portraying the beauty of black women that were produced by us and for us. Black folks reclaimed our image (see the ad below for an example) even during segregation.
There’s still a misconception out there regarding how black folks used to live. Far too many times Hollywood and even books portray us as downtrodden and usually in the position of a domestic.
No matter what (segregated) society may have thought or stated erroneously about black culture, we did our own thing. Part of which meant black women were thought of as sex symbols in our community even though mainstream media ignored beautiful sistas as cover girls.
BLAST FROM THE PAST
Cover girl for Bronze Thrills mag 
This publicity photo was used for the cover of the book Vintage Black Glamour by Nichelle Gainer. The book can be purchased on Amazon. Click the photo to be redirected. 
Singer Joyce Bryant and Eartha Kitt, sex symbols of the 1950s