Zimbabwean Scholar Tererai Trent’s Statue Unveiled Alongside Oprah in New York

Zimbabwean scholar, Tererai Trent’s life-size statue was unveiled this Monday in New York. Nine other women including media mogul Oprah Winfrey, Nicole Kidman, and Cate Blanchett had their statues too unveiled, that same day.

tererai trent statue

Tererai Trent is a Zimbabwean scholar who was denied education growing up because of her gender. According to a tweet she put out via her Twitter account, she was “beyond honored” to be among the first ten sculpted by the artists.

Others who were also sculpted include, activist Janet Mock, chemist Tracy Dyson, author Cheryl Strayed, conservationist Jane Goodall, Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas.

The women were sculpted by prominent Australian artists Gillie and Marc Schattner to commemorate Women’s Equality Day on August 26 under the “Sculpted for Equal Rights” initiative. August 26 is also the anniversary of women getting the right to vote.
The subjects of the statues were chosen via a public vote. They were being honored for their work in championing gender equality by Statues For Equality.
Tererai Trent, 54, was not allowed to go to school in her childhood because of her gender, although, she was taught how to read and write while she lived with her parents in rural Zimbabwe.
In 1998, she was discovered by an American non-profit who visited her village, and soon she relocated to the United States. Since then, she has achieved her dreams of getting an education and she now has a masters degree and a doctorate degree.
In 2011, her story caught the attention of Oprah Winfrey who then gave Tererai Trent $1.5 million to rebuild an elementary school in rural Zimbabwe. This project was done in partnership with Save the Children in 2011.

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