First Black American speller – joins Jamaica’s Jody Queen Bee
Zaila Avant-garde, 14, from New Orleans, Louisiana, holds
the trophy after winning the 2021 Scripps National Spelling
Bee Finals at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at
Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, U.S.
July 8, 2021. REUTERS/Joe Skipper
Caribbean Life, JULY 16-22, 2021 11
Kudos to 14-year-old Zaila
Avant-Garde.
She is the $50,000 prize winner
of the 2021 Scripps National
Spelling Bee and the first of her
race to win the title.
The Harvey, Louisiana native
made history being the very first
African-American champion —
after 96 years of competition.
Zailia correctly spelled the
word ‘murraya’ causing confetti
to rain across the ESPN Wide
World of Sports Complex at the
Walt Disney World in Orlando,
Florida location where 209 spellers
ranging in ages from 9 to 15
competed last week to win the
coveted prize.
“I was pretty relaxed on the
subject of murraya and pretty
much any other word I got,”
Zaila said.
As a matter of fact, her victory
was so secure the Bee ended in
less than two hours eliminating
the lightning round tie-breaker
usually effected.
According to the teenager, at
age 12, spelling added to her
list of hobbies and challenging
tasks.
At that age she seriously considered
competing in the national
contest.
Ultimately she did and made
it to the nationals but bowed
out in the preliminary rounds.
The following year, the Covid-19
pandemic canceled the contest.
However, Zaila decided that
nothing would stop her from
giving her all in 2021.
Considering that contestants
usually begin preparing
from kindergarten, Avant-Garde
seemed a late starter and an
unlikely winner of the demanding
competition.
In addition to champions
from every state, this year she
faced the best spellers from
Japan, Canada, Ghana and the
Bahamas.
Heightened pressure must
have resonated when the finalist
was informed that first lady Jill
Biden was among the celebrated
teachers watching in the audience.
Reportedly the educator
remained in place after making
a speech to actually witness the
historic Olympics of spelling.
I was in the Bahamas in 1998
when 12-year-old Jamaican
speller Jody-Anne Maxwell aced
the Scripps Howard contest to
emerge the first ever international
contestant to take the
championship.
She beat out 248 spellers
including representatives from
the Bahamas, Mexico and other
international nations.
l recall the jubilation and
pride of the entire cadre of
Jamaican and Caribbean nationals
there — the triumph of a
little girl from Ardenne High
School manifested globally with
shared joy by all my colleagues
gathered overseas for a music
festival.
Maxwell out-spelled foreign
and domestic champions clinching
the title spelling the word
“Chairoscurist.”
Now a married lady and attorney,
the Jamaican history maker
maintains her title but must
yield to the African-American
who is first from the host country
to secure what has been
unattainable for any African-
American.
Ironically, Prior to a Scripps
competition, the very first winner
of a spelling contest was
14-year-old African American
Marie C. Bolden who won the
championship in 1908 in New
Orleans.
The ruckus her victory
caused cannot be detailed in
this limited space but be assured
white entitlement prevailed with
repercussions against the Black
community.
Catch You On The Inside!
Inside Life
By Vinette K. Pryce
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