Youth, use your collective power

This year marks the 45th anniversary of what is famously known as June 16. On this day we remember and honour the generation of 1976, who took the bull by the horns, spearheading a student uprising in Soweto, when young people protested against the imposition of Afrikaans by apartheid regime as a medium of instruction.

Forty-five years is a long time and the mere fact that we still remember and commemorate this day should be a sign to all that power is in the hands of young people to make a difference in the society they live in. Young people should never put themselves down or think they cannot achieve goals. I bet a R100 that the youth of 1976 did not imagine they would be celebrated 45 years down the line for standing their ground to make a difference.

Can you imagine what would have happened had they not said no to oppression? What would life be like today had the apartheid government not had a taste of a massive resistance like the one of the Soweto uprising. The youth of 1976 made history on that day, amidst tragedy and bloodshed.

The youth of today needs to be reminded of what power they hold if they stand as a collective. No violence is necessary but just through the search for solutions, through being a collective.

Social media makes things so easy these days. Social media, which can topple governments, has been proven to be so powerful that it influences our thought process and the decisions we make. How glorious it would be if this tool could be used to change negative thoughts into positive ones.