The country of Brazil has crowned its Miss Brazil 2016 — and she’s black.
Despite having the highest population of black people outside of the continent of Africa, Afro-Brazilians tend to have low visibility according to what the local and international media define as “Brazilian.” Over 50 percent of people in Brazil identify as black, and the country has heavy colorism issues. So, to see the Raissa Santana take home the crown is a huge win.
She is the first black woman in 30 years to win the crown, and is only the second black woman in history to do so as well.
It was also a history-making year for the amount of black women in the pageant overall, with black women being 6 out of 27 contestants.
After winning the competition, Santana said: “I’m very emotional. This here is a mixture of great emotions. I didn’t expect to win this title, but I am very happy to have won this title and to represent black beauty and encourage girls who have the dream of having something, to conquer, to be a model, to be a Miss…now I want to encourage these girls and show them that they can.”
Congratulations, Miss Brazil! You are the epitome of #BlackGirlMagic!
