Zaila Avant-garde (born February 9, 2007) is an American speller, basketball player, and juggler.
She is the first African-American contestant to win the bee and is the second Black winner, after Jamaica's Jody-Anne Maxwell.
[1] Avant-garde was born on February 9, 2007, in Harvey, Louisiana, the daughter of Alma Heard and Jawara Spacetime.
[2] Her basketball heroes include Stephen Curry, James Harden, Diana Taurasi, Kevin Durant and Maya Moore.
Due to pandemic concerns, only the 11 finalists competed in person, in a session that took fewer than 2 hours.
[8] Avant-garde was the silver medalist at the International Jugglers' Association 2020 championship in the Juniors Division (18U).