As South African Zozibini Tunzi received the Miss Universe crown on Sunday, she said the moment made her feel "so proud" as she accomplished a long-awaited goal.
"It feels like I'm really doing something I set out to do. I really wanted so badly for young girls and women to look at me and see themselves represented and see their faces represented in mine," Tunzi told Cheddar Thursday.
When she won the crown Sunday night, the 26-year-old said "I grew up in a world where a woman who looks like me — with my kind of skin and my kind of hair — was never considered to be beautiful. I think 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."
A self-described activist, Tunzi said she hopes to continue her work against gender-based violence and in favor of gender equality.
During the competition, Tunzi wore her hair short and natural, which she called "a symbol of my firm belief in fair representation."
This year marks the first time Miss America, Miss Teen USA, Miss USA, and Miss Universe are all black women.
"It's so important for people to see things in order to believe them," she told Cheddar.
Celebrities and excited viewers chimed in online to offer congratulations to the new Miss Universe, including Oprah who tweeted, "Agree with you...leadership is the most powerful thing we should be teaching young women today."
Americans across the country this weekend celebrated Juneteenth, marking the relatively new national holiday with cookouts, parades and other gatherings as they commemorated the end of slavery after the Civil War.
Alina Hauptman of Best Friends Animal Society highlights some new pets up for adoption and gives some pointers on how to keep pets safe from wildfire smoke.
If you thought getting older meant slowing down, we want to introduce you to a group that's proving you're never too old to soar through the skies. News 12 visited an airport in Danbury, Connecticut to meet a hobbyist group called the United Flying Octogenarians.
Nat and Alex Wolff, the New York-native brother duo, both of whom started out on the Nickelodeon hit series "The Naked Brothers Band," joined Cheddar News to discuss their new album, "Table for Two."
All major social media platforms do poorly at protecting LGBTQ+ users from hate speech and harassment — especially those who are transgender, non-binary or gender non-conforming, the advocacy group GLAAD said Thursday. But Twitter is the worst.
