Some delegates at the conference titled, 1976@50: Commemorating 50 years of the 1976 uprisings – the student uprising remembered, held at the University of Johannesburg’s Soweto campus last week.
The role played by the influence of other international struggles, both on the African continent and worldwide, on the June 16 uprising has been largely forgotten.
Professor Salim Vally, SA Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) chair in community, adult and worker education at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), said the Black Consciousness organisations and the youth of 1976 were deeply influenced by other liberation struggles.
The country will mark the 50th anniversary of the June 16 uprising this month.
“They drew inspiration from the independence struggles in Zimbabwe, Namibia, Angola, and Mozambique, as well as from popular resistance against US imperialism in South America and Asia,” he said.
