Cheslie Kryst is an American television presenter and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss USA 2019 on 2nd May 2019 at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada. She represented the USA at Miss Universe 2019 on 8th December 2019 at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. She was placed at the Top 10 at the end of the event finale.
After being crowned as Miss USA 2019, Cheslie became a part of history as she joined the ranks of Miss America Nia Franklin and Miss Teen USA Kaliegh Harris. Cheslie in a live session on social media account remembered that she was worried that the people of USA might not be ready to accept a woman of color to hold the title just two years after two other black women held the title for consecutive years.
Cheslie is a full-time attorney that is licensed to practice law in two states. She earned both her law degree and MBA from Wake Forest University and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor's degree from the Honors College at the University of South Carolina. Cheslie runs a fashion blog, "White Collar Glam", that focuses on workwear fashion for women. She is an active volunteer for Dress for Success and credits her achievements to her ability to learn from failure.
Remembering her win, Cheslie stated, “I know I was worried that I had won too close to two other black women. Because I think there have been times where we’ve seen a woman of color crown a woman of color.” During the live session with Miss Universe 2019 Zozibini Tunzi and hairstylist Nai'vasha, she mentioned, “We’ve seen these collections before here, there, sporadically, but like seeing Deshauna win in 2016 and then Kára in 2017 and then Sarah right after, I was like, can we do another one? Is there room?”
Cheslie’s win was celebrated and appreciated across the world as it became a part of history as the three black women held onto the titles and represented their countries at international pageants. But there was a section of people who were okay with the evolvement of the beauty pageants but kept questioning about why Kryst, Franklin and Harris were talked about so often. The diva recalled that after creating a history, their names were everywhere and people were commenting on their pictures like crazy; some congratulating, some criticizing and some just appreciating that they won, but there was a comment that stuck with her which said, ‘Why does everybody keep talking about race? We just need to understand that these are three accomplished women that just won on their own merit.’ To which Cheslie responded with, ‘Well, while I agree with you, yes, the reason we’re talking about race is because when has this ever happened? It is because of that sense of tokenism that we have, that many other people besides us have. That they think, OK, we’ve got a black Miss America they should be happy. Or we’ve got a black Miss USA, they should be happy. Not thinking like, we can have five of these titles.”
The black beauty queens were over-whelmed when Zozibini Tunzi from South Africa was crowned as Miss Universe 2019. She is the first black woman to win Miss Universe title with her natural hair on display with pride. She also recalled that it was necessary for everyone to know that black people can also have the same things. She said, “That’s why I felt like it was so important to have Cheslie and I and all the other queens that won who were black at the same time, to show people that actually you can have more than one.” Zozibini continued that people talk about diversity and representation like everyone is ready to accept it but when it happens, they can’t take it. They can’t deal with the change and it eventually leads to cyberbullying, which is why people will send you nasty DMs, say nasty things in your comments. Because they’re just not dealing with it, they’re not ready.