Author: Elsabé Brink

Publisher:

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13: 9780795701320

The sixteenth of June 2001 is the 25th anniversary of the Soweto youth uprising, an event commemorated in this book as ordinary people recollect their experiences of those fateful days in their own words. From interviews with 26 people who were enrolled at schools across Soweto in 1976, interspersed with extracts from the report of the Cillie Commission, the events are reconstructed, giving a nuanced and revealing picture of the time. For some of the interviewees, participating in this book was the first opportunity they ever had of talking about what happened and how it has affected their lives since. historical photographs enhance the text and create a visual flash-back to a time when police vans, uniforms, fashions, vehicles, houses and Soweto streets looked very different to today. A short authoritative introduction by a respected historian provides context. This book aims to look back at the Soweto uprising through the eyes of ordinary youngsters who experienced it themselves. It makes our sad history come alive, in a gripping reconstruction which cannot but leave one touched.