This week the DETROIT girls chess team took it down to the NATIONAL CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS IN CHICAGO! 6 girls are on the high school team and they were known as the underdogs! And this is what truly attracted me to this story. Thirteen-year-old Jada Hamilton struggled to find the words to describe how she felt about her team’s victory.

Hamilton and the other girls at Detroit’s University Prep Science & Math school have just earned first place at the K.C.F All-Girls National Chess Championships in Chicago. They were the best chess players in the country in the ‘Under 14’ category. The K.C.F Championships are billed as the “largest and most prestigious tournament in the USA for girls under the age of 18.”  To those who do not know much about the K.C.F they are known to hold the largest national competitions. What I also found most amazing is that all the girls were black and not that it matters but to be black young adults and playing a game like chess means society is shifting and parents are understanding that the kids are truly the FUTURE! I grew up playing chess and not just the physical board game, chess in life is what it truly teaches you. I think it is superb that these young women learned a game and understood the strategy enough to get them across the goal line, it speaks volumes and truly made me go back and brush up on the game. With amazing messaging going out to young African American women such as BLACK GIRLS ROCK, AND BE YOU CAMPAIGNS it shows that their is a light at the end of the tunnel.

I hope that this story inspires other young adults to understand they have the power to fit in the category with the greats and that is what it is truly about! To the young ladies of U.P.S.M congrats on the great win and we are sure their will be many more to come!

Signing Off
-TB