This summer has been filled with record-breaking achievements for Black girls in North America. Black girls of all ages have gone beyond society’s expectations and proved to the world, once again, how talented we all are. Specifically, some notable public figures who have caught not only my attention recently, but also the world’s would have to be Coco Gauff, Beyonce, Sha’Carri Richardson, and Ava DuVernay.
Coco Gauff is officially the youngest American since Serena Williams in 1999 to win the Grand Slam. At just nineteen years old, Coco Gauff attained a great feat through all the arduous work she has put into the sport. From a young age, Coco put everything into tennis. For example, when she was seven, she trained for two hours a day with a tennis professional. She even moved from Atlanta to Delray Beach for better training, which eventually led to her first Grand Slam victory in the 2023 U.S open.
Over the course of this summer, Beyonce has been on her Renaissance World Tour, becoming the highest-grossing tour by a female artist in history by more than 461.2 million. Just to put things into perspective, the last to hold this title was Madonna for her “Sticky and Sweet” tour back in 2008-2009. Over the course of the summer and this tour, videos and pictures of people dressed up in their favourite Beyonce-inspired outfits have surfaced all over the internet. I think many people can agree that Beyonce has simply outdone herself with her amazing dancers and stage crew. There have also been many instances on tour where she has brought out her daughter, Blue, to dance alongside her, and fans simply cannot get enough of this dazzling duo.
Sha’Carri Richardson has officially become the world’s fastest woman after winning the 2023 Track and Field World Championships in Budapest Hungary. Specifically, she won the 100 meter race with a time of 10.65 seconds. Though she was denied the chance to compete at the Tokyo Olympics, Sha’Carri Richardson was able to make a comeback after she won the U.S, Olympic trials. Above all, it is abundantly clear that she has improved in her sport and it’s great to see her do better than ever.
Ava DuVernay has also made history. She was the first Black female director to have a film performed at the Venice Film Festival. Her film, Origin. depicts themes of race and discrimination, showing how, throughout history, lower members of society have been dehumanized and discarded. In her interviews, DuVernay mentioned how people tried to talk her out of applying for the Venice Film Festival competition: “I can’t tell you how many times I have been told: ‘Don’t apply for Venice, you won’t get in’. And this year it happened. Thank you. Something happened that hadn’t happened in eight decades before, an African American woman in competition.” Ava’s success story goes to show that one should never give up on their dreams, despite the comments that can be made from people trying to put you down.
All in all, this summer has been a series of wins for Black women. I think it’s great to see both older and younger generations paving the way for Black women and women of colour in all areas of life.