Velda and Joe: A(nother) Grand Adventure

These three images are from the Hector Piederson Memorial and Museum in Soweto.

On June 16, 1976, more than 15,000 Black students marched peacefully to protest the mandate that schools teach math, arithmetic, and social studies only in the Afrikaans language instead of English, which the students preferred (Afrikaans was called the “language of the oppressor” by Desmond Tutu). What it meant was that students near the end of their education would spend their time learning the language and fail their subjects.

The march was met with teargas, batons, and trained dogs. Protestors killed a dog and threw it back to the police. The police then opened fire on the crowd, killing people indiscriminately. One of the first killed was Hector Piederson, a 12-year-old boy. The image of his body being carried away became an international symbol of the evil of Apartheid. The man carrying his body had to flee the country after the government falsely claimed that he was the leader of the movement.

This was part of the Soweto Uprising, which ended any hope of returning to a stable and peaceful country under Apartheid.

The captions under the pictures provide more detail. A comparison to the Civil Rights Movement in the US is apt, both the grievances and the police response. Search “Soweto Uprising” on Wikipedia for more information.