Black Teen Runs Hoops Around Spelling Bee Competitors
11 Jul 2021, 07:05 GMT+10
An African-American teenager from Louisiana has won the National Spelling Bee, only the second Black competitor to win the prestigious annual contest.
Zaila Avant-garde, 14, jumped and twirled with joy upon being declared the winner after nailing the spelling of murraya, a genus of tropical Asiatic and Australian citrus trees. I was pretty relaxed on the subject of murraya, and pretty much any other word I got, Zaila said.
Zaila said she hopes to inspire other African Americans who might not understand the appeal of spelling or can t afford to pursue it. The only previous Black winner of the bee was also the only international winner: Jody-Anne Maxwell of Jamaica in 1998.
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2 days ago in Features, Trending
Zaila Avant-garde, 14, from Harvey, Louisiana celebrates after winning the finals of the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee at Disney World Thursday, July 8, 2021, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux) Photo: Associated Press
By BEN NUCKOLS Associated Press
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) Zaila Avant-garde understood the significance of what she was doing as she stood on the Scripps National Spelling Bee stage, peppering pronouncer Jacques Bailly with questions about Greek and Latin roots.
Zaila knew she would be the first African American winner of the bee. She knew Black kids around the country were watching Thursday night’s ESPN2 telecast, waiting to be inspired and hoping to follow in the footsteps of someone who looked like them. She even thought of MacNolia Cox, who in 1936 became the first Black finalist at the bee and wasn’t allowed to stay in the same hotel as the rest of the spellers.
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