Yet another June 16?
A formidable day in the history of a country still grappling with a painful past, a rather uncertain present, but for many a promising future. Commemorated under the theme ‘Youth Moving South Africa forward’ this remarkable day recalls the 1976 Student uprising in Soweto that challenged the law imposing Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in Black schools. This was seen as a move by the Apartheid government to subjugate and annihilate Black history and identity through a highly controlled pedagogical framework that disregarded the educational agency of black South Africans.
Forty years down the road, enormous strides have so far been made. However, the country continues to encounter numerous challenges, some of which are inherited from this turbulent colonial past. CIHABlog’s Co-Editor Akosua Adomako’s article – #Black Lives Matter, #Rhodes Must Fall and Afro Knowledge posted on June 10th expounds upon some of these challenges and more. Brooks J. Spector in his article ‘Soweto, 16 June 1976: ‘Freedom Is Coming, Tomorrow’ published in the Daily Maverick at this year’s commemoration analyses the events of the 1976 uprising and its implication on the lives of South Africans today.
Soweto, 16 June 1976: ‘Freedom Is Coming, Tomorrow’
by J Brooks Spector for Daily Maverick