Activist Zulaikha Patel pens new book ‘My Coily Crowny Hair’

Activist, Zulaikha Patel has penned her first book called My Coily Crowny Hair which aims to empower young girls to celebrate their natural Afro hair.

Patel first gained attention at age 13, when she led a protest for the decolonization of hair policies in schools, which was followed by several protests across South Africa in schools such as Lawson Brown High School and many others.

The book has been written to empower and encourage girls from an early age to embrace and not to be ashamed of their Afro hair and is a story that resonates strongly with Patel.

Written through the eyes of a 7-year-old girl who draws courage from her mother, grandmother and the African queen, to celebrate her hair and to style it in the many different creative hairstyles that girls from around the world can relate to.

The book is written by activist: Zulaikha Patel

These include an Afro, braids, bantu knots, Ben and Betty, twists, a tied up phondo, and many others.

My Coily Crowny Hair is illustrated by Chantelle and Burgen Thorne, the foreword written by Nomzamo Mbatha, and published by Lingua Franca Publishers, to empower and encourage girls from an early age to embrace and not to be ashamed of their Afro hair.

“I want to spark a global and meaningful conversation about Afro hair amongst parents/guardians and children, which will hopefully create a culture of self-love, self-care and confidence,” says Patel.

The author is the youngest Ambassador to the Charlotte Mannya Maxeke Institution, which is a Non-Profit Organisation born out of desire to preserve, promote, elevate and leverage the legacy left behind by Charlotte Mannya Maxeke, who had been the first Black woman to graduate with a BSC degree in Southern Africa.

The story emphasises that girls are brave and smart, and can have limitless potential if they believe in their own worth.

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