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."
Rescuers from across Europe rushed to a cave in Turkey on Thursday, launching an operation to save an American researcher who became trapped almost 1,000 meters (3,000 feet) below the cave's entrance after suffering stomach bleeding.
A judge sentenced “That ’70s Show” show star Danny Masterson to 30 years to life in prison Thursday for raping two women, giving them some relief after they spoke in court about the decades of damage he inflicted.
Wondering what to watch this weekend? This week we have the latest Power play, looking for a home overseas, the quintessential mother-daughter duo from the aughts, and a YouTube comedy series that never gets old.
A windsurfer who went missing off Florida's Space Coast the day that Hurricane Idalia made landfall last week has been declared the state's second death from the Category 3 storm, officials said Wednesday.
A Florida man who was attempting to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a man-made hamster wheel is facing federal charges after it took the U.S. Coast Guard five days to bring him ashore, according to a criminal complaint filed in Miami.
