Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Still Rising











School is out and I have much to share before I go away for a summer program in less than two weeks. It is so amazing how following the World Cup has taken me to so many points in history. I learned today that June 16th is the anniversary of the 1976 Soweto Riots. During the apartheid era, laws were passed that made it mandatory for black and colored students to learn their lessons only in Afrikaans, the language of the white minority. Students- Children- from Soweto and all across South Africa revolted against this policy and by doing so, many were killed. But their boldness and outrage changed the course of South African history. Young people.

They are not forgotten. Below is a link to Ben Harper singing one of my favorite Maya Angelou poems-I’ll Rise. The children of Soweto, of South Africa did rise.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcIJRyy15Gw

color photo-Pernille


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