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This year's Miss America, Miss USA, and Miss Teen USA winner are all black women.

This year's Miss America, Miss USA, and Miss Teen USA winner are all black women.

This is as great a time as ever to remind everyone that black is beautiful. I mean, the evidence is literally overwhelming.

For the first time in history, all three crowns of America’s biggest beauty pageants — Miss America, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA — went to black women.

American beauty pageants have not always been kind to women of color. For years, black women were not even allowed to participate in beauty contests across the country. And America didn’t have its first black Miss America until Vanessa Williams made history in 1983.

But the times have clearly changed and 2019 is a year of beautiful black female dominance in the beauty pageant world.

"The three young women who have focused their energy on demonstrating how standards of black beauty speak for American standards of beauty are to be commended," Thomas DeFrantz, a professor in the Department of African and African American Studies at Duke University, told NBC News. "These three standard-bearers prove that black beauty is at the heart of a 21st century American ideal."

Along with being a major historical accomplishment, the beauty pageant trifecta is a showcase of three exceptional young women making a difference in the world:

Miss America winner Nia Franklin has been open about how racism impacted her childhood and how she was able to overcome it.

"I grew up at a predominately Caucasian school, and there was only 5% minority, and I felt out of place so much because of the color of my skin," she told CNN. "But growing up, I found my love of arts, and through music that helped me to feel positive about myself and about who I was."

And Miss USA Cheslie Kryst is doing important work in criminal justice reform, working to help people who have received unusually harsh sentences and helping those who have reentered society through her work with programs like Dress for Success. And it wasn't just Kryst, the Miss USA contestants provided questions for each other that touched on immigration, the 2020 election, MeToo and gun control.

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Finally, Miss Teen USA winner Kaliegh Garris made a statement of her own by appearing in the contest with her natural hair.

"I know what I look like with straight hair, with extensions, and with my curly hair, and I feel more confident and comfortable with my natural hair," Garris told Refinery29.

All three women have achieved major milestones in winning their respective pageants. Together, they’re serving as a statement about cultural progress, inclusivity and how somewhat antiquated competitions like beauty pageants can still serve a progressive purpose in 2019.

As Franklin said in an interview with CBS:

“I am so proud, I’m actually honored as well. This is something that I couldn’t have planned myself. So just to have this moment is so inspirational to not only me but I think to young women across the world that we made this history that we didn’t even know we were making at the time.”

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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airport dad
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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animals
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