On Ziad Ahmed’s college application for Stanford University, the high school senior was asked: “What matters to you, and why?” According to the teen, only one thing came to mind: #BlackLivesMatter which he wrote exactly 100 times.
Apparently his activism paid off, as Ziad was recently accepted into the ivy league school. “I was actually stunned when I opened the update and saw that I was admitted,” says Ziad. “It’s quite refreshing to see that they view my unapologetic activism as an asset rather than a liability.”
Ziad says that his Islamic faith and his commitment to justice go hand in hand. “My unapologetic progressivism is a central part of my identity, and I wanted that to be represented adequately in my application,” says the teen activist. “To me, to be Muslim is to be a BLM ally, and I honestly can’t imagine it being any other way for me. Furthermore, it’s critical to realize that one-fourth to one-third of the Muslim community in America are black … and to separate justice for Muslims from justices for the black community is to erase the realities of the plurality of our community.”
Ziad has posted his acceptance letter and #BlackLivesMatter answer on Twitter which has so far over 700 retweets and over 2,000 likes.
