Celebration held for Scripps Spelling Bee champion Zaila Avant-garde I watched her work for this I watched her do the 13,000 words a day, listen to her music in her own world and when it came through she worked for this. Author: Raeven Poole / Eyewitness News (WWL) Published: 9:40 PM CDT July 18, 2021 Updated: 10:53 PM CDT July 18, 2021
HARVEY, La. A parade and second-line were held in honor of National Spelling Bee Champion, Zaila Avant-garde on Sunday.
The 14-year-old Harvey native was crowned champion after she successfully spelled the word “murraya at the Scripps National Spelling Bee on July 8.
Zulu Tramps led the second line while supporters, family and friends lined up in their cars to hand her balloons, cards and handmade signs and to congratulate her on the achievement.
Zaila Avant-garde combines her basketball, spelling skills on Jimmy Kimmel Live
thegrio.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thegrio.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
African American Spelling Bee Champ Makes History With Flair
wttw.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wttw.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
First African American Wins National Spelling Competition
July 09, 2021
Zaila Avant-garde celebrates with the championship trophy after winning the finals of the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee, July 8, 2021.
Share
share
The URL has been copied to your clipboard
0:00
0:04:10
0:00
Murraya is the word.
The 14-year-old girl from Harvey, Louisiana,
twirled and jumped after correctly spelling m-u-r-r-a-y-a” to become the first African American winner in the 96-year history of the Scripps National Spelling
Bee.
Zaila said she knew Black children were watching her and dreaming of following the same path. She even thought of MacNolia Cox, the first Black finalist at the 1936 competition. Cox was not permitted to stay in the same hotel as the rest of the spellers because of her skin color.