Cheslie Kryst

SENTINEL EXCLUSIVE: Three Young Black Queens Make Pageant History

  The LA Sentinel sits down with each of the 2019 title holders   For nearly 100 years, young girls excited by the glamour and beauty of the Miss America and Miss USA competition have watched annually as women, mostly White, take the stage to compete for scholarship prizes and the title of pageant queen. When Cheslie Kryst won the Miss USA title last week, she knew it was monumental but she didn’t think the moment would go down in American pageant history. “I didn’t realize all of us were Black until a lot of people started posting on social

3 black Women Win Miss USA, Miss Teen USA and Miss America

NEW YORK (AP) — When Cheslie Kryst won the Miss USA crown, it marked more than a personal triumph: It meant that for the first time, three black women are the reigning Miss USA, Miss Teen USA and Miss America. The North Carolina lawyer completed the historic triple Thursday with pageant winners 2019 Miss America Nia Franklin and recently crowned 2019 Miss Teen USA Kaliegh Garris. “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,” said Thomas DeFrantz, a professor in the Department

North Carolina Lawyer Cheslie Kryst named Miss USA 2019

RENO, Nev. (AP) — A 27-year-old lawyer from North Carolina who represents prison inmates for free won the Miss USA title Thursday night, describing herself as a “weird kid” with a “unibrow” who’s now part of the first generation of truly empowered women. Asked in the final round to use one word to summarize her generation, Cheslie Kryst of Charlotte said “innovative.” “I’m standing here in Nevada, in the state that has the first female majority legislature in the entire country,” she said at the event held for the first time in Reno. “Mine is the first generation to have