She changed her school's outdated hair policy and now activist Zulaikha Patel is being honoured by the UN

She was barely in her teens when she made headlines for inspiring protests about hair policies at schools, cutting a petite yet powerful figure as she pumped her fist into the air, her delicate face dwarfed by her afro. 

Zulaikha Patel’s defiance sparked a national conversation on racial prejudice in classrooms and her school, Pretoria Girls High, later overturned their policy to allow natural hair. 

It was a victory not only for the students at Pretoria Girls High but for black students across the country who had faced racism and abuse at school because of their hair.