Congrats are in order for 21-year-old Ameena Ruffin and 18-year-od Korey Johnson. These two lovely young Black women have been named the first Black women to win a national debate championship tournament! It’s being reported that the Towson University students beat 170 other teams during the Cross Examination Debate Association national championship held this week in Indiana. Amber Kelsie, one of two coaches for Towson’s debate program, compared the Cross Examination Debate Association national championship to the “Super Bowl“ of debate championships.
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Ruffin and Johnson stole the show with their argument that compared police brutality, the prison-industrial complex and structural poverty issues to a warlike violence against African-Americans in the U.S. and the best thing about the impassioned speech is that they identified solutions. Ruffin and Johnson argued that the issue could be overcome, not by focusing on the negative of the situation, as the opposing team did, but by imagining a better future.
You know what’s really awesome about this history-making win? The Baltimore Sun is reporting that the Towson debate team was at the center of a controversy last fall when its members said the university was preventing it from participating in a tournament at Harvard University. Towson eventually relented and the team took part in that competition. Good thing because these girls were poised to dominate!
Ruffin and Johnson are designated among the top 16 debate teams in the country. Ruffin placed 12th and Johnson placed 15th in the individual rankings.
I absolutely adore lifting up young women like Ruffin and Johnson. Our society should spend more time glorifying wins like this as opposed to creating excitement around World Star fights and whatever the new hashtag is.
Check Out Their Incredible Win!
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