14-year-old Zaila Avant-garde becomes the Scripps National Spelling Bee's first African American champion

The Washington Post

The 14-year-old from New Orleans correctly spelled “murraya” to win this year's Spelling Bee. Avant-garde is the second Black winner after Jamaican Jody-Anne Maxwell, who won the Bee in 1998. Avant-garde's victory is also noteworthy because since 2008, a South Asian American kid has been named a champion at every Scripps Bee.