
Craig Barritt/Getty Images; Mike Coppola/Getty Images; Alex Wong/Getty Images
This was a good year for black women. From Emmy nominations to elections, music to movies, black women dominated 2013. The Root has gathered a list of the black girls who won in 2013.
Sasha Obama

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Sasha caused a unicorn sweater shortage this year. After she was spotted wearing this ASOS sweatshirt, it promptly sold out. Yes, we get our fashion cues from a 12-year-old. Donât worry about it.
Brittney Griner and Raven-Symoné

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Basketball star Brittney Griner inked a deal with Nike, and actress Raven-SymonĂ© continued her career. They also both announced that theyâre gay. Whatâs on their iPods? Rihannaâs âUnapologetic.â
Black Female Comedians

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Saturday Night Live has done a terrible job of casting black women. After receiving some backlash, SNL hosted a secret audition for black female comedians. Luckily, though, black girls arenât waiting around for SNL to recognize their talents. Women like The Daily Showâs Jessica Williams are paving their own way. For the last time, black women are funny.
Janet Mock and Laverne Cox

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Orange Is the New Black actress Laverne Cox and activist Janet Mock have been at the forefront of transgender issues this year. Cox is currently producing a documentary about the plight of CeCe McDonald, and Mock has released a book, Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More.
Simone Biles

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Gymnast Biles didnât let the haters steal her shine this year. The young athlete is currently both the 2013 U.S. national and world all-around champion.
Kerry Washington

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Washington was the first black woman in 18 years to be nominated in the Emmysâ Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series category. Olivia Pope to Kerry Washington: âItâs handled.â
Aja Brown

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At 31, Brown became the youngest person to be elected mayor of Compton, Calif. She beat the incumbent with an impressive 63.5 percent of the vote.
Rihanna

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Remember when people criticized Rihanna for her crossover success? She came out with the doobie wrap, edges laid, and shut that down. The American Music Awards werenât ready.
Black Actresses

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Lupita Nyongâo, Naomie Harris, Danielle Brooks, Samira Wiley, Uzo Aduba, Laverne Cox, Kerry Washington: This has been the year of the black actress. As far as weâre concerned, every year should be the year of the black actress.
Melissa Harris-Perry and bell hooks

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On Nov. 8, bell hooks and Melissa Harris-Perry hosted a joint talk. We are still surprised that the universe didnât implode from the meeting of these two great feminist minds.
Mikki Kendall

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Writer Kendall won Twitter with two important hashtags. #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen started in response to the insensitivity of some noted white feminists toward victims of writer Hugo Schwyzer's attacks on feminists of color, which ignited a firestorm and prompted a list on our own site. #FastTailedGirls sparked a necessary discussion on sexual assault, black women and the culture that allows assault to persist. These Twitter trending topics tallied roughly 63,000 and 40,000 unique tweets respectively and are still running.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

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Writer Adichie has been a winner since she released her best-selling book Half of a Yellow Sun. But itâs been her TEDx talk, which was featured on BeyoncĂ©âs new album, that has powered her recent push to fame.
Chirlane McCray

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Writer and poet McCray was the bedrock of her husband Bill de Blasioâs successful campaign to become mayor of New York. The de Blasio family is headed to the mayorâs mansion, and they have her to thank.
Michelle Obama

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Obama is the first lady of the United States. She is always winning.
Beyoncé

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In case you didnât know, Queen Bey reigns supreme. The end.
Diamond Sharp is an editorial fellow at The Root. Follow her on Twitter.
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