The lead stars of blockbuster movie Black Panther Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong'o and Chadwick Boseman presented The Black Panther Scholarship for women and girls.
READ MORE: "Women will save South Africa" - Oprah Winfrey
The scholarship created by Walt Disney Studios was awarded to winner, 17-year-old Kalis Coleman, at The Hollywood Reporter's 2018 Women in Entertainment event. The scholarship was created in support of encouraging young diverse voices in entertainment.
“We all know if we want to live in a world that looks more like Wakanda, the first step is you invest in some girls and women [sic],” said Danai as she presented the scholarship.
On her way to accept the award Kalis greeted each of the stars in a adorable Wakanda Forever salute.
READ MORE: The importance of seeing black women like Nomzamo Mbatha graduate
This follows Black Panther director Ryan Cooglers surprise announcement in April of a $50 000 (about R694 682) grant to the Ghetto Film School Los Angeles.
This grant was donated by Synchrony Bank, a promotional partner on Marvel Studios’ Black Panther.
The Black Panther movie did incredibly well on its release this year. Quartz reported that the movie's global ticket sales reached $1 billion (R14 billion) within four weeks and became the 10th highest grossing film of all time.
Disney's way of giving back following this success is commendable.
These incredible investments towards the future of young people, especially girls and women, reminds us of the investments from South Africa’s public figures, companies and celebs who are doing the same.
These are some of the scholarships available in South Africa:
Motsepe Foundation bursaries
The Motsepe Foundation bursaries by Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe and Dr Patrice Motsepe currently has 2 000 students in South African universities receiving full bursaries that cover tuition, accommodation, living expenses and books.
You can apply for this bursary with the designated Motsepe Foundation bursary form and email to bursaries@motsepefoundation.org.
Bonang Matheba Bursary Fund
Bonang shared with TrueLove that the bursary fund has awarded ten girls with bursaries to study in various fields and in different universities in South Africa. She said the goal is to fund 40 to 50 girls by 2020.
Zola 7
Zola 7 partnered with Afribiz Academy and offered three bursaries for courses in the construction industry. Application details can be found on www.afribizacademy.com.
Gert Johan-Coetzee
Gert Johan-Coetzee offers bursaries at the North West School of Design worth R345 000 in total to cover tuition fees and study materials, according to Channel24.
Details on the application process are available at www.nwsd.co.za.
Mo Flava
Radio DJ Mo Flava partnered with Boston Media House on a bursary drive to award bursaries worth R1.2 million in total. More details on this bursary competition can be found here.
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