Outside the Hector Petersen Memorial Centre in Soweto, Johannesburg is a sculpture dedicated to all the youth that gave their lives during the Soweto uprising of 1976.
FIVE decades have passed since that fateful, yet horrifically tragic day on June 16,1976.
The children of 1976, particularly the "black" children of Soweto rose as one, stood firm and with stones and running feet reclaimed their agency without waiting for someone to come rescue them.
They took charge of their futures and fought against the inequities of Bantu education that was foisted down upon them and their resistance and resilience against the apartheid regime echoed the world over - their shouts became sirens, their tears became rivers and their strength reverberated with the most powerful force to be realised almost two decades later, as democracy and freedom visited a land besieged by oppression and discrimination.
The apartheid government of the time was ruthless and remorseless and any protest against its laws equated to losing your life - child or not.
