16 June 1976
Today, June 16th, we remember 35 years ago when black South African students decided that they wanted to have a voice in their education, their government and their country.
For our non-South African friends: this day is what has come to be called the Soweto Uprising. Thousands of school children took to the streets to protest against having to be taught in Afrikaans, what was at that time the language of the oppressors, the Apartheid government.
The government retaliated against the school children with live ammunition, and Hector Peterson (pictured) was the first to be killed.
Every year, on this date, in South Africa we remember this important day. It was what many consider to be the start of an intensified anti-Apartheid movement within and outside of the country. After the event, many of these school children joined the struggle against Apartheid and went into exile to join Umkhonto We Sizwe, the armed wing of the struggle.
Though it was a tragic day, it is also a testament to the power of young people to be able to make a change. Back then there was no twitter or facebook to mobilise (like we see with the uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East) but these young children made a huge and lasting impact to what is now a free and democratic South Africa.
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