Actualité - 30th Anniversary of the Soweto Uprising
Franc-Parler publie un article à propos de la commémoration du 30e anniversaire de l'insurrection de Soweto contre le régime d'apartheid en Afrique du Sud. L'insureection de Soweto marquait un point tournant dans la lutte historique pour la libération du peuple en Afrique du Sud et pour tous les peuples d'Afrique. C'est l'esprit qui anime toujours les peuples d'Afrique dans la lutte pour la libération, la souveraineté et un autre monde.
Friday, June 16, was the Day of the African Child, celebrated all around Africa. It marked the 30th anniversary of the Soweto uprisings, when thousands of children rose up to defy the South African apartheid state forces, and were brutally mowed down. We salute the spirit of the youth in daring to take a stand and shape the direction of their own and their country’s future.
It is now well-recognised that the uprising of the youth, and the martyrdom of many of their number, was a watershed in the history of the struggle in South Africa and in the liberation struggles of the people of Africa. The children on that day in 1976 were not just taking to the streets to protest against the imposition of Afrikaans, the language of their oppressors, but represented the growing consciousness that the African people themselves had to take matters into their own hands. The massacre that ensued and the detentions and imprisonment under the Terrorism Act and subsequent torture aroused the utmost outrage and condemnation from the world’s democratic forces. They were a spur to the people further organising themselves to overthrow the apartheid regime. The letter from Nelson Mandela smuggled out from Robben Island and made public two years later testifies vividly to this fact.
As the speech by the Deputy President of the ANC in Durban on June 16 this year said: "We meet during one of the most important days on the calendar of our country, a day on which we remember and celebrate the determination, heroism and bravery of our youth. Each year when we remember the heroes and heroines, who fell in Soweto on 16 June 1976, we emerge with renewed vigour and a deeper sense of purpose, to achieve all the goals they had in mind when they risked their lives for the freedom of our land.
"We have come a long way since that fateful day, when children stood up against the apartheid security forces and made it clear that they would chart their own future.
"On such a day we recall and appreciate that the freedoms we now enjoy did not come about through some goodness of the hearts of the oppressor, but the blood, sweat, tears and supreme sacrifice of our people. We are today drawing strength from the life of Hector Peterson and all the children and youth who lie buried throughout our country, as young soldiers and innocent victims who fell in the struggle for the liberation of our country."
He went on to quote, as did Thabo Mbeki, the message issued in exile on August 26, 1976, inspired by the heroism of the youth who stood against the brutal massacre and defied police bullets in a sustained offensive against oppression, exploitation and racial humiliation, for political and economic power and for human dignity: "Demonstrations and acts of resistance in Soweto and other parts of the country are, therefore, not riots by anti-social elements but blows for liberation by an oppressed people. They are not passing disturbances by adventurous and misguided students but an integral part of the continuing and irrepressible liberation struggle of our people. Our youth have raised this struggle to new heights. They have enriched our revolution. The struggle continues.''
This is the spirit that inspires the African peoples today in their present struggle against the relations of exploitation which the US and Britain, under the banner of the G8 and of a "humanitarian" and "civilising" mission, seek to impose and perpetuate on the continent of Africa. It cannot be forgotten that the British government backed to the hilt the South African white racist regime, and a principled stand of the British government today would be to denounce the crimes of racism, colonialism and slavery for which Britain was responsible and agree to pay reparations for these crimes against the African peoples. Where there is a will there is a way!
The youth of today also are moved by and find inspiration in the fight for freedom of the June 16 youth and their martyrs. They too pledge to build a bright future for themselves and for all future generations.
(Workers' Daily Internet Edition)
Friday, June 16, was the Day of the African Child, celebrated all around Africa. It marked the 30th anniversary of the Soweto uprisings, when thousands of children rose up to defy the South African apartheid state forces, and were brutally mowed down. We salute the spirit of the youth in daring to take a stand and shape the direction of their own and their country’s future.
It is now well-recognised that the uprising of the youth, and the martyrdom of many of their number, was a watershed in the history of the struggle in South Africa and in the liberation struggles of the people of Africa. The children on that day in 1976 were not just taking to the streets to protest against the imposition of Afrikaans, the language of their oppressors, but represented the growing consciousness that the African people themselves had to take matters into their own hands. The massacre that ensued and the detentions and imprisonment under the Terrorism Act and subsequent torture aroused the utmost outrage and condemnation from the world’s democratic forces. They were a spur to the people further organising themselves to overthrow the apartheid regime. The letter from Nelson Mandela smuggled out from Robben Island and made public two years later testifies vividly to this fact.
As the speech by the Deputy President of the ANC in Durban on June 16 this year said: "We meet during one of the most important days on the calendar of our country, a day on which we remember and celebrate the determination, heroism and bravery of our youth. Each year when we remember the heroes and heroines, who fell in Soweto on 16 June 1976, we emerge with renewed vigour and a deeper sense of purpose, to achieve all the goals they had in mind when they risked their lives for the freedom of our land.
"We have come a long way since that fateful day, when children stood up against the apartheid security forces and made it clear that they would chart their own future.
"On such a day we recall and appreciate that the freedoms we now enjoy did not come about through some goodness of the hearts of the oppressor, but the blood, sweat, tears and supreme sacrifice of our people. We are today drawing strength from the life of Hector Peterson and all the children and youth who lie buried throughout our country, as young soldiers and innocent victims who fell in the struggle for the liberation of our country."
He went on to quote, as did Thabo Mbeki, the message issued in exile on August 26, 1976, inspired by the heroism of the youth who stood against the brutal massacre and defied police bullets in a sustained offensive against oppression, exploitation and racial humiliation, for political and economic power and for human dignity: "Demonstrations and acts of resistance in Soweto and other parts of the country are, therefore, not riots by anti-social elements but blows for liberation by an oppressed people. They are not passing disturbances by adventurous and misguided students but an integral part of the continuing and irrepressible liberation struggle of our people. Our youth have raised this struggle to new heights. They have enriched our revolution. The struggle continues.''
This is the spirit that inspires the African peoples today in their present struggle against the relations of exploitation which the US and Britain, under the banner of the G8 and of a "humanitarian" and "civilising" mission, seek to impose and perpetuate on the continent of Africa. It cannot be forgotten that the British government backed to the hilt the South African white racist regime, and a principled stand of the British government today would be to denounce the crimes of racism, colonialism and slavery for which Britain was responsible and agree to pay reparations for these crimes against the African peoples. Where there is a will there is a way!
The youth of today also are moved by and find inspiration in the fight for freedom of the June 16 youth and their martyrs. They too pledge to build a bright future for themselves and for all future generations.
(Workers' Daily Internet Edition)
Libellés : La glorieuse histoire des luttes des peuples contre le fascisme et le racisme
posted by Franc-Parler at 1:01 p.m.
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