![Louisiana teen becomes the first African-American contestant to win national spelling bee](https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/210708212337-national-spelling-bee-2021-winner-super-tease.jpg)
Louisiana teen becomes the first African-American contestant to win national spelling bee
CNN
We have a W-I-N-N-E-R!
Zaila Avant-garde, a 14-year-old from New Orleans, Louisiana, just won the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee after correctly spelling murraya -- a type of tree -- to clinch the championship. To get there, the teen had to navigate her way through words like "querimonious," "solidungulate," and "Nepeta," a word the teen had to reset on, and let out a joyous jump after her correct spelling.![](/newspic/picid-6252001-20250216092711.jpg)
Amid Democrats’ shock and bickering over how much to respond to President Donald Trump is a deeper question rippling through leaders across the Capitol and across the country: How much should they rely on the same institutional and procedural maneuvers they used during the first Trump term, and how much are they willing to wield their own wrecking balls?
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