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This week in black women: a royal wedding and the best golfer you've never heard of.

This is the fifth edition of "This week in black women," a weekly column dedicated to signal-boosting the black women who make the world spin.

This week, we shout out a pioneering mayor, a cool-as-a-cucumber newscaster, a legendary golfer, and more. Celebrate them! Follow them! Support them! Let's do this.

"Go off, sis": Rhodes Scholars

The Rhodes Scholarship is one of the most distinguished academic awards for university students. Just 32 young people are selected to receive the prestigious award each year, which covers expenses for two or three years of graduate study at Oxford University.

This year, 10 African-American students earned the honor, including six women: Simone Askew, Jasmine Brown, Camille Borders, Tania Fabo, Chelsea Jackson, and Thamara Jean.

[rebelmouse-image 19530920 dam="1" original_size="480x261" caption="GIF from Tracee Ellis Ross/YouTube." expand=1]GIF from Tracee Ellis Ross/YouTube.

"Taking care of business": LaToya Cantrell

In a landslide victory, Cantrell was elected the next mayor of New Orleans. She will be first woman mayor in the city's 300-year history.

This is not Mayor-Elect Cantrell, but it IS the appropriate response to hearing about a city's first female mayor. Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images.

"Y'all play too much": Rahel Solomon

Solomon is a newscaster in Philadelphia who is going viral this week after completing the "one-chip challenge" with her colleague on air.

The challenge involves eating a single, albeit dangerously spicy, Paqui brand chip. Solomon ate the chip and barely flinched. Her colleague, however? Not so much.

The highlight of the video is Solomon calmly asking, "Can we get a medic in here for Jim?"

"If you don't know, now you know": Ann Gregory

Every week, I ask you to send me links to stories or people I should highlight. Reader Mark S. let me know about one of his favorite women in history:

"Not sure if there is a time limit on your series on black women but I think Ann Gregory deserves a shout out."

He's right. Gregory is a trailblazing athlete who doesn't get nearly enough props.

Born in 1912, Ann Gregory (née Moore) was the first and one of the best black women to play golf. Gregory didn't pick up the game until she was in her 30s, but her storied amateur career spanned more than four decades.

She played in United Golf Association tournaments for black players, where she earned the unofficial title "The Queen of Negro Women's Golf." She was not only a dynamo on the course, but an active community volunteer, military wife, and mother. She competed well into her 70s, winning gold at the U.S. Senior Olympics in 1989. She passed away in February 1990.

Athletes like Gregory paved the way for other golfers of color, including Tiger Woods, whose club is shown here. Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images.

"Let the people know": Dee Rees

Dee Rees is the director behind the new film "Mudbound." The film follows two families — one black and one white — in the years immediately surrounding World War II.

In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, Rees revealed why focusing on stories from the Jim Crow era is vital.

"When a certain person says 'make America great again,' I think this period is the 'again' he’s referring to. And I’m trying to get behind this mythology of the 'greatest generation,' who we were, what we really did and what did it cost. The American educational system has a reductive, simplified view of history. But things didn’t end with [the abolishment of] slavery. This period is our link between our then and our now."

"Mudbound" is currently streaming on Netflix and in a handful of theaters. It's also generating some early Oscar buzz.

[rebelmouse-image 19530923 dam="1" original_size="750x500" caption="Director Dee Rees attends the MoMA's Contenders Screening of "Mudbound." Photo by Kris Connor/Getty Images for Museum of Modern Art, Department of Film." expand=1]Director Dee Rees attends the MoMA's Contenders Screening of "Mudbound." Photo by Kris Connor/Getty Images for Museum of Modern Art, Department of Film.

And of course, a bunch of happy tweets about Meghan Markle.

Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle announced their engagement this week. Markle is biracial and American, so needless to say, my Twitter timeline was very excited.

Final thoughts: Common

I, for one, support this idea 100%.

Joy

Airbnb host wakes his guest up in the middle of the night so she wouldn't miss the northern lights

Best. Host. Ever.

@penslucero/TikTok

Pency Lucero taking in the Northern Lights

Seeing the northern lights is a common bucket list adventure for many people. After all, it ticks a lot of boxes—being a dazzling light show, rich historical experience and scientific phenomenon all rolled into one. Plus there’s the uncertainty of it all, never quite knowing if you’ll witness a vivid streak of otherworldly colors dance across the sky…or simply see an oddly colored cloud. It’s nature’s slot machine, if you will.

Traveler and content creator Pency Lucero was willing to take that gamble. After thorough research, she stumbled upon an Airbnb in Rörbäck, Sweden with an actual picture of the northern lights shining above the cabin in the listing. With that kind of photo evidence, she felt good about her odds.

However, as soon as she landed, snow began falling so hard that the entire sky was “barely visible,” she told Upworthy. Martin, the Airbnb host, was nonetheless determined to do everything he could to ensure his guests got to see the spectacle, even offering to wake Lucero up in the middle of the night if he saw anything.

Then one night, the knock came.

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Pets

Ricky the kitten spent 2 weeks at Gramma and Grampa's and the photobook is everything

Gramma's adorably over-the-top book documenting Ricky's visit has people clamoring for more.

@goldfishclub/TikTok

Ricky had many exciting adventures at Gramma and Grampa's house.

There are kitten lovers…and then there are Ricky's grandparents.

When Izzie Grass left her kitten, Ricky, with her parents for two weeks, she had no idea what was in store for her after she got him back. Not only had RIcky been well taken care of, but his adventures with his human grandparents were fully documented in a photobook created by Grass' mother, which she titled "Ricky Goes to Gramma's and Grampa's."

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Pop Culture

Guy shares the reason viral gym videos need to end, and it's so spot on

"If you can’t respect other people in a shared space, you don’t belong filming at all.”

Reddit

“This sense of entitlement has gotten out of hand."

Gyms are communal spaces where people can come to improve their health, fitness and/or overall well-being.

However, it’s no secret that many gyms have also become a production studio of sorts where influencers can set up a tripod to demonstrate the most cutting-edge squatting technique or where the average Joe can take that obligatory gym selfie to prove that the workout did, in fact, happen.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with either of these activities. However, they have sparked a new kind of behavior in gymgoers where they feign extreme frustration if folks walk from one machine to the next or grab a piece of equipment and, heaven forbid, enter the frame.

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community
Joy

A group of vacationing young friends expose their buddy's secret: He's an 'airport dad'

Every friend group has at least one friend that winds up parenting the group.

Johannes2o|TikTok

A group of vacationing friends show an "airport dad" in action.

If you've ever traveled or gone out to a party or bar with a group of friends, then you've probably experienced the phenomenon of the "friend-parent." Now, this is a term I totally just made up, but I bet you recognize it. The friend-parent is the one that takes on the responsibility of corralling any stragglers, tossing out drinks that have been left unattended and generally making sure everyone stays safe.

A friend-parent was recently caught on video being an "airport dad" to his group of friends. Usually, you hear about women looking out for other women in a mother-hen sort of way, but this guy group just proved the friend-parent knows no gender. In a TikTok video from Johannes2o that currently has over 8.4 million views, a small group of guys are standing near each other with "POV: our friend is an airport dad" in text on the screen.

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Pop Culture

People are loving this Amazon delivery driver for warning a woman that her house is 'unsafe'

Great info, even better delivery.

TikTok

Delivering packages AND safety.

Amazon delivery drivers don’t have the easiest job in the world. Sitting through traffic, working in extreme temperatures, hauling boxes … not exactly a fun time. So when a driver goes out of their way to be extra considerate—people notice.

One delivery driver has gone viral for the way she delivered a little bit of safety education, along with some lighthearted advice. The TikTok video of the encounter, which now has more than 4 million views, was shared by Jessica Huseman, who had only recently moved into her new house.

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acts of kindness
Joy

A major UCLA study says that at least 65 species of animals laugh

If you've never seen a fox giggle, you're in for a treat.

SaveAFox/YouTube

Foxes giggle like children on helium.

Laughter is one of the most natural impulses in humans. Most babies start to laugh out loud at around 3 to 4 months, far earlier than they are able to speak or walk. Expressing enjoyment or delight comes naturally to us, but we're not the only creatures who communicate with giggles.

Researchers at UCLA have identified 65 species of animals who make "play vocalizations," or what we would consider laughter. Some of those vocalizations were already well documented—we've known for a while that apes and rats laugh—but others may come as a surprise. Along with a long list of primate species, domestic cows and dogs, foxes, seals, mongooses and three bird species are prone to laughter as well. (Many bird species can mimic human laughter, but that's not the same as making their own play vocalizations.)

Primatologist and UCLA anthropology graduate student Sasha Winkler and UCLA professor of communication Greg Bryant shared their findings in an article in the journal Bioacoustics.

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