June 17, 2010 11:56 Age: 80 days
Thank the youth of 1976 for the Africa 2010 Fifa World Cup today
By: Christine Davis, AAYMCA communications volunteer
On 16 June 2010, International Day of the African Child, amidst Africa’s 2010 Fifa World Cup frenzy, the Africa Alliance of YMCA’s can’t help but look back on history and give an appreciative nod in awe to the youth this day marks and celebrates.
International Day of the Africa Child is celebrated every June 16 as a testament to the power of children’s and youth voices and action. It is in fact, an international reminder, that on 16 June 1976 in Soweto, South Africa, a peaceful march by South African school children turned violent and become a significant contributor to the eventual decline of South Africa’s Apartheid system.
It seems remarkable then that a little over 30 years later, a new generation of African children and youth are marching to a different song on the streets of South Africa during the 2010 Fifa World Cup because of the sacrifices made by other children on this date. They clutch and call on their vuvuzelas, clothed in their country’s colours, faces flag-painted as they march through streets and stadiums calling support for their national teams and if their team isn’t playing, calling support to any African team that is.
Soccer is Africa’s biggest sport. It is played by the poor and the wealthy across race, culture, gender and religious differences in schools, streets and stadiums throughout Africa. It is a sport that relies on the contribution the one can make to the many and the support the one can provide in achieving the goals all strive for. For the first time on African soil, Africa’s favourite sport is being played by Africa’s youth, on the world’s most important international stage and the youth of Soweto in 1976 are in large part responsible for that.
Without the 1976 Soweto Uprising, there is little doubt that international pressure for a South African regime change would not have been as forceful or effective. The state sanctioned murder of hundreds of children at the hands of South Africa’s police force acted as a powerful visual call to action and intensified the ongoing international embargo’s placed on South Africa’s economy.
The youth of 1976 understood the pressure of the world they were fighting against. They understood their voices would be silenced and made invisible by the state-controlled media, understood that the politics of the time would not listen, understood even that the sheer numbers of their voices would act as a threat and that political response would be swift and unforgiving. But, the youth understood also, that the quality of life they led was dictated and determined by a carefully orchestrated system of controls and limitations. They were subject to the biased and manipulative influences of a powerful few who would never allow them to experience a full citizenship to the country within which they were born. Yet, despite all they were facing, they stood, marched and demanded change, and received it. Through their acts, Africans throughout the continent are now able to watch their national teams compete and challenge each-other, and go further by supporting all African teams who battle against countries across from Africa’s oceans.
New media technologies in 1976, such as televisions which are commonplace in many households now, worked against South Africa’s tight control of the internal press and globally distributed now famous images of children, still wearing their school clothes, as they ran frightened and carrying the bleeding and broken bodies of their fallen friends from their police. The voices, images and cries of the fallen hundreds and their need for a better education system were carried to a world-wide audience. The voices of the African youth, their message of peace met with brutality, became the symbol of the inherent power youth represent, of a need to move youth from subjects of control and manipulation to fully recognised and incorporated citizens working towards a betterment of society for all. Those same media technologies, evolving into today’s free social media platforms have become the spaces youth themselves can control.
In the end what began as little more than a peaceful march by youth speaking out against an inferior education became a significant push in the fall of an unjust system. Today, in part because of those youth, the world convenes on African soil in a democratic space to peacefully compete, but also to celebrate the best their countries have to offer. Today, Africa’s youth showcase their pride at their citizenship and their belonging to countries that have learned through the actions of generations of youth before them, to accept and nurture their power.
The Africa Alliance of YMCA’s salutes the past youth of Africa on this day and pays tribute to them for shaping our understanding of the power youth play as active citizens. We celebrate the positive contribution Africa’s youth and children are currently making for positive change in our continent and commit our movement to continue our efforts to transform youth from subjects to citizens.
Picture: Youth celebrating South Africa's opening goal in their first 2010 Fifa World Cup match.
Credit: Christine Davis
