Soweto Uprising

[Janus]

South Africa is preparing to commerate the Soweto Uprising soon as a pivotal incident in the fight against apartheid.

What are your thoughts on it?

South Africa to mark Soweto uprising (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5085450.stm)

[Mujer Libre]

In my mind it was one of the key events of the anti-apartheid struggle, especially after the lull period of the 1960s. It revealed the power of the youth, and of mass action- while also showing (yet again) the extent of the apartheid state's brutality. I think thse images opened a lot of peoples' eyes, particularly overseas.

I think those events really paved the way for the township rebellions of the 1980s, and international sanctions.

There's also reasonable evidence to suggest that the confidence to take to the street came (at least partially) from the Black Consciousness Movement- which began as a student movement.

But I'm just rambling right now (I just wrote an essay on this stuff). Soweto 1976 was a pivotal moment in the struggle, and should definitely be commemorated, as an ongoing lesson as much as a commemoration of history.