A call to action for today's youth

TO ME, Youth Day means more than a celebration or an opportunity to take a day off from fighting our academic battles - it serves as powerful reminder of the boldness and resilience of the young people of 1976.

- JOSEPH CLOETE

They stood firm in the face of oppression, risking their lives for dignity, freedom, and access to quality education.

Today, we no longer fight the same fight they fought on the 16th of June 1976 but we fight still, every single day of the year. We battle silently in lecture halls, in overcrowded taxis and in job queues. Many of us face a different battle, looking at my own life these battles include: resisting the pull of crime, fast money, and the pressure to make it out of places like my own rural community where gangsterism and despair often seem like the roads available. Our struggle wears no uniform, but it is stitched into our decisions, our debts and our dreams.