00:00It was a decisive turning point in the fight against apartheid in South Africa.
00:04On the 16th of June 1976, students took to the streets of Soweto to protest against the imposition of Afrikaans
00:11as the language of instruction in black schools.
00:14What followed was a massacre, 176 dead after the police opened fire,
00:18a death toll that came close to 700 as the protests spread.
00:22The 1976 struggle was a, in its broadness, it was a fight against apartheid.
00:36But we knew that there's a pillar of that system of apartheid that we needed to deal with, and that
00:45was education.
00:46One of the most enduring symbols of the Soweto uprising is 13-year-old Hector Peterson.
00:51Photos of his lifeless body being carried by another student moments after he was shot
00:56shocked the world, becoming a symbol of apartheid's brutality.
00:59The police were there at the corner, that corner, and we went out as parents here,
01:06and I couldn't believe my eyes.
01:08And in all this commotion, this little boy, Hector Peterson, came from this side.
01:14And I said to them, don't go this side, this police are shooting, don't go this side.
01:20And my word wasn't cold.
01:22They shot the little boy, and he fell here, just here.
01:27He didn't die there, he fell here.
01:29News reports of the police action led to increased international condemnation, boycotts, and economic sanctions.
01:34Apartheid officially ended in 1994, but many believe the dream of a better life for all young people has not
01:40materialized.
01:41The new spirit and movement that is coming up now is the one that says, we are going to fight.
01:49And we are saying to many of these young people, we don't want bullets anymore.
01:54We don't want blood anymore.
01:56What we want now is balot.
02:00Amid the often unresolved grief of the families of victims, compounded by the realities of life today,
02:06Soweto is marking the 50th anniversary of Youth Day,
02:09as the public holiday marking the uprising is now known,
02:12with a four-day commemorative program starting on Saturday.
02:15We don't want blood anymore, but we don't want blood anymore.
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