Writing against racism
JOBURG – The issue of racism comes to the forefront as foundations and organisations come together to fight the scourge – and ask the youth to write about it.
A national essay writing competition against racism will encourage young people to prove that the pen is indeed mightier than the sword.
The South African Youth Essay Writing Competition Against Racism is a collaboration with Khwerha Ye Afrika and the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation and is supported by the Department of Arts and Culture, the Foundation for Human Rights, the Steve Biko Foundation and Spotlight Creations, among others.
Sharing their objectives for the competition, the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation’s communications liaison, Delani Majola explained, “We want young people to share their experiences with racism in the form of an essay which will be published in our own publication.
“The issue of racism is so important and we want to encourage young people to engage on the topic. We wanted to get them to be aware and start taking a stand. Last year we saw schools taking a stand against structural racism so we want to get them talking about it.”
Busisiwe Nkosi from the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation’s Youth Leadership Programme said the initiative comes as a response to national discussions on racism and hopes to encourage people from all areas and walks of life to participate by adding a new and unique facet to the competition.
Nkosi explained, “What’s unique about this competition is that essays can be entered in any of the 11 official languages as chosen by the participants.”
This pilot programme is open to the public who fall into one of two categories which include ages 15 to 25 and 26 to 35.
The competition closes on 31 March and the award ceremony will take place in June, with the exact date to be confirmed in due course. It could become an annual event to open discussion on this controversial topic in South Africa.
Tommy Khoza, the executive director of Khwerha Ye Africa, said he hopes the competition will ‘provide young people with an opportunity to creatively use their writing talents to share experiences, encounters and untold stories of racism’.
Details: Melissa 011 892 0399; 081 702 5862.
Read: Writing classes from esteemed author
