Today begins a week in which American opportunity should shine, with a major party set to name as its vice presidential candidate a woman of Black and South Asian heritage – 100 years after women won the right to vote.

The power of that pairing competes with concerns that pandemic and a hindered postal service could imperil November’s elections.  

Feeling whipsawed by the news cycle? Focus on the power of earned opportunity to emerge undeterred. 

Here’s a story you might have missed. An 11-year-old Nigerian boy, Anthony Madu Mmesoma, appeared in a video in June dancing barefoot in a downpour on the rough pavement of a Lagos street near the studio where he takes instruction. 

His moves were a study in grace, with refined extensions and leaps. Millions saw the video. Among them: Cynthia Harvey, a former dancer with the American Ballet Theatre in New York, now artistic director of an affiliated dance school.

 “Within a day,” she told one reporter, “I was trying to find him.”

She did. Anthony earned a scholarship to study virtually with the school this summer. After that? A scholarship from Ballet Beyond Borders, Reuters reports, should enable him to train in the United States next year. 

“Reminds me of the beauty of my people,” Oscar-winning actor Viola Davis tweeted when the video surfaced. “We create, soar ... despite the brutal obstacles that have been put in front of us! Our people can fly!!!”