A Charlottesville teen honored for an essay he wrote on social justice was invited to ride on a Martin Luther King Jr. float in Monday’s Rose Parade.
Kibiriti Majuto, 19, of Charlottesville, and Liliana Sweet King, 17, of Tallahassee, Florida, received $5,000 grants and were given the opportunity to ride on the float in Pasadena, California, after writing essays about fighting hate in their communities.
Aleena Haidari, 17, of Charlottesville, also was a top winner of the Heather Heyer Foundation and AIDS Healthcare Foundation youth essay contest.
The contest and annual AHF float highlight community heroes and the sacrifice of civil rights and social justice activists, according to a news release.
Majuto, born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, wrote about his participation on the board of the Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice. Haidari, who was born in Pakistan, wrote an essay focusing on her Muslim heritage and the discrimination she and her family have faced.
The $5,000 grants are for use for community projects or for the recipient’s education.
Two runners-up in the essay contest — Amaya Wallace, 16, of Charlottesville, and Brianna Parker, 16, of Columbia — will receive $1,000 grants.
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation is a nonprofit HIV/AIDS health care provider operating in 38 countries.
The Heather Heyer Foundation was founded in August, to honor the memory of the 32-year-old Charlottesville woman who was killed Aug. 12 when a car plowed into a group of people who were protesting a white supremacist rally. The foundation, co-founded by Heyer’s mother, Susan Bro, provides scholarships to people passionate about social change.
Bro and Alfred Wilson, co-founder and executive director of the Heather Heyer Foundation, also were to appear on the float at the 129th annual parade.
