Enfield teenager wins national award for her anti-racism poem

The Highlands School pupil’s poem about her experiences of racism won a special prize from charity Show Racism the Red Card

Shania Anyemedu receives her award from Show Racism the Red Card patron John Barnes

A 13-year-old school pupil from Enfield has won a national art competition after writing a poem about her experiences of racism.

Shania Anyemedu, a pupil at Highlands School in World’s End, entered her poem Little Black Girl in the creative writing category for her age group in the annual Show Racism the Red Card (SRtRC) art competition, which has been running for 24 years and is the biggest of its kind in the country.

Shania was named as one of the winners, who had beaten more than 30,000 other children entering the competition from around the UK, at an awards ceremony at Liverpool FC’s iconic Anfield Stadium.

She was presented with her award by Liverpool legend and SRtRC patron John Barnes. The charity is the UK’s largest anti-racism education charity and has worked with more than one million young people since its inception in 1996.

Shania’s inspirational winning poem can be read below.

Little Black Girl

They taunt me for the colour, the shade of my skin,
They taunt me for my bushy hair, which can’t be slicked nor thin
They tease me for my edges, yet try to imitate,
They laugh about my nose and lips, for which I cannot change.

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But the bronze on my skin, oh, it glows in the sun,
My coiled, afro hair cannot go undone,
My edges, a unique dime of mine,
My precious nose and lips are one of a kind,
My ancestors, standing brave and strong,
My culture, in which I belong.

The tone of my skin, can make life a little hard,
This is why we need to show racism the red card.

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