There was a movie named "Akeelah" that premiered last year, which starred a young Black girl:
Akeelah Anderson is a talented girl at
Crenshaw Middle School, a predominantly black school in
South Los Angeles. Akeelah is especially talented at spelling, and never makes errors on her spelling tests. Her teacher recommends that she sign up for the Crenshaw Schoolwide
Spelling Bee.
Akeelah wins the school spelling bee easily. After that, Dr. Joshua Larabee (a visiting English professor) tests her with some difficult words, and finds that she has the potential to reach the National Spelling Bee. But after failing to correctly spell the word "pulchritude", she is upset because she doesn't meet her own expectations of being a "brainiac."
When Akeelah asks Dr. Larabee to coach her, he rejects her for being insolent. Instead, she studies on her own for the district spelling bee. During the bee her sister Kiana catches one of the contestants cheating, which allows Akeelah to take the tenth and final qualifying spot for the regional/state bee. She also meets Javier, an eleven-year-old
Mexican-American boy and fellow speller. Javier invites her to join the spelling club at
Woodland Hills.
In Woodland Hills, Akeelah meets Dylan Chiu (played by
Sean Michael), a
Chinese-American boy, who tests her word knowledge and tells her she needs a coach. After the spelling club, Javier invites her to his birthday party.
During the party, Javier impulsively kisses her. Dylan plays Scrabble with Akeelah and several other guests. Akeelah almost defeats Dylan, but later overhears Dylan's father admonishing him to do better to avoid being beaten by "a little black girl."
Akeelah's mother, Tanya, is depressed at her husband's death, and does not want Akeelah to participate in the state bee because it would be too much on top of her homework. The bee is so important to Akeelah that she forges her father's signature on the consent form.
As the state bee draws near, Akeelah memorizes all the winning words from past spelling bees and works with Dr. Larabee, learning not only words, but also life lessons.
During the state bee, Akeelah's mother interrupts to try to stop Akeelah from competing, but Dr. Larabee steps up to stop her from interfering. Javier uses the word "
ratatouille" to stall for time while Akeelah talks to her mother. Javier asks the judge to repeat the word, define it, use it in a sentence, and even to sing in a song with it. Just in time, Akeelah returns. Dylan finishes first, Javier second, and Akeelah third, which earns her a spot in the
Scripps National Spelling Bee.
As Christmas approaches, Akeelah goes out to buy Dr. Larabee a present, not knowing that he plans to give up coaching her because she reminds him too much of his deceased daughter, Denise. Instead, he gives Akeelah four boxes of 5,000 flashcards to study.
Without her coach, Akeelah loses her motivation. When she tries to spend time with her best friend, Georgia, Georgia tells her "Why don't you go with your friends at Woodland hills?" When she sees people talking about her on TV and hoping she will win, the pressure is too much, and she goes to her room crying. Her mother, however, cheers her up and suggests that even though Dr. Larabee won't coach her, just about anyone else will.
Akeelah begins to search for her coaches. Everyone from her brother's gangster friends (Derrick T.) to grocery store managers to restaurant waiters is willing to coach her, which lifts her spirits and restores her motivation.
In the end, Dr. Larabee comes through with tickets for four people to the national bee, so that Akeelah's family and friends can go with her. Her performance is solid and steady thanks to her "jump rope" strategy from Dr. Larabee. With only a few stumbles, she is smiled on as a crowd favorite.
Javier and Dylan are, of course, also at the bee. Javier is finally eliminated on "
Merovingian", finishing 5th, and begins rooting for Akeelah.
But when Akeelah goes to wish Dylan good luck, she overhears his father's expectations of Dylan: win first place this year, win first place every year. Afterwards she runs into Dr. Larabee, who tells her how proud he is of her. Akeelah asks him whether she can come back if she loses, "Of course you can!" he says.
Akeelah attempts to throw the competition by deliberately misspelling "
xanthosis" as "zanthosis". Dylan wonders what he should do, knowing she must have done this on purpose -- he taught her how to spell the word way back in Woodland Hills. Dylan misspelling as well, choosing "xanthoses". They each know something is up now, but they are able to clear it up and try to win fair and square. The contest moves on to the 25 championship words.
The perfect spelling goes on, and finally, Dylan spells the 24th championship word, "logorrhea", and is declared a National Spelling Bee champion with the word. Akeelah still has a chance, though, and gets a lucky break: her word is "pulchritude", the word she had first stumbled on at the
Crenshaw school spelling bee. She and Dylan are declared co-champions in an emotional moment, with cheering from
Crenshaw to
Washington D.C..
"You know that feeling where there is joy, and that is love... L-O-V-E."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akeelah_and_the_Bee
... please make yourself at home ... 