‘There's still a fight to fight': Marking four years since the Afzaal family attack
June 6, 2021, was a wake-up call for Esa Islam when his cousin and her family were killed in a targeted attack.
The victims were Alman Afzaal, his wife Madiha, their 15-year-old daughter Yumna and 74-year-old grandmother Talat, along with a surviving nine-year-old boy.
He said he knew he had to do something to help put an end to Islamophobia.
'The terrorist that killed my cousin and her family was someone not that far out of high school himself and it shows that radicalization happens when the people are young,' he said. 'In order to actually combat that, we have to start at the same age.'
Youth Coalition Combating Islamophobia
Youth Coalition Combating Islamophobia. (Lauren Stallone/CTV News London)
Now nearly four years later, Islam is working with other youth advocates, through the Youth Coalition Combating Islamophobia (YCCI), to prevent similar attacks from happening in the future.
'We don't have to see another family walking down the street and then killed by hate ever again,' said Islam.
The YCCI is made up of individuals actively fighting Islamophobia through education, community engagement, and advocacy.
'We are canvassing around the neighborhoods around London with postcards about what is June 6, a quick paragraph that tells people what happened, why, and what we need to do as next steps,' said Islam.
Islam said he hopes this is just the beginning of radical change he can be a part of.
'The unfortunate thing is that there's still a fight to fight, it's not over yet,' he said.
The YCCI will be hosting an evening prayer on Friday to commemorate four years since the tragedy.
'This is something that will stay in our history forever, so we have to move past it, not by forgetting it, but by using it to fuel ourselves to make sure that it never happens again,' said Islam.
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