The famous young anti-racism activist and best-selling author Zulaikha Patel, recently attended Mail and Guardian’s 200 Young South Africans, an initiative that celebrates the youth who have created resilient, entrepreneurial, and robust solutions.
The author revealed that she walked away with the Editor’s Choice award from this prestigious event.
Patel came to fame after she got the attention of locals with her viral racial protest against hair policies at Pretoria Girls’ High at just 13 years old. CNN reported that the protest started after Patel and a group of young black girls from the high school were told by teachers that their “exotic” afros needed to be tamed.
Not too long after Mzansi was excited to see a young feisty black girl stand up for her own rights, Patel landed herself a book deal and wrote My Coily Crowny Hair. The children’s book was then published in 2021 and was written to encourage young girls to embrace their natural hair.
Taking to her Instagram, Zulaikha made the announcement about her winning the Editor’s Choice award at this year’s Mail & Guardian 200 Young South Africans event and captioned her post saying: “This means so much to me. I feel deeply honoured to have been honoured by a publication that was a staple in my home growing up. My dad always had a @mailandguardian newspaper and eventually helped me with my reading using his newspapers.”
Adding to her post, Patel said: “My activism is quite personal, [and] it wasn’t spontaneous; it has always been a deep[ly] personal decision. My activism located me at a time when I couldn’t reject it due to the conditions. Choosing to keep going even when it’s difficult and a lonely path was also a personal decision for me. It’s moments like these that remind me that nothing’s ever been in vain and I’m encouraged to keep going and never stop.”
Main Image: Global Citizen
