Youth day – Book Village https://bookvillage.co.za Tutor Young South African's Thu, 16 Jun 2022 17:02:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.1 https://bookvillage.co.za/wp-content/uploads/cropped-Book-Village-Logo1000px-1-32x32.png Youth day – Book Village https://bookvillage.co.za 32 32 Youth Day https://bookvillage.co.za/youth-day/ Thu, 16 Jun 2022 17:01:58 +0000 https://bookvillage.co.za/?p=1546 Read more]]> In the words of Nelson Mandela “Young people are capable, when aroused, of bringing down the towers of oppression and raising the banners of freedom”. Youth Day is celebrated annually on the 16th of June as a testament to the power of the youth to advocate against oppression. On the 16th of June 1976, thousands of students protested in the streets of Soweto against the use of Afrikaans as a medium of education. Moreover, the protests were also about the Bantu Education system as a whole. The idea behind Bantu education was to create a population that was trained to perform manual labour and be involved in ‘menial work’.  Students protested this too, opposing the overcrowded, underfunded and poor standards of education that students of colour were receiving from the Apartheid government. Tragically, clashes with police resulted in many protesters’ deaths, with statistics varying from 400 to over 1000 protesters (mainly children) dying. This was a devastating day in our country’s history but one that was also considered a turning point in the Anti-Apartheid regime. The actions of the Apartheid government in the June 16th protests were a contributing factor to the adoption of a more militant approach by Anti-Apartheid movements. The event also highlighted the atrocities of Apartheid to international communities, who would later introduce sanctions against the Apartheid Government. The ‘beginning of the end’ so to say.

This year marks 46 years since the Soweto uprising and whilst many strides have been taken to improve our educational system for young South Africans, there is still more to be done. According to Amnesty International, the modern-day South African educational system is characterised by “crumbling infrastructure, overcrowded classrooms and relatively poor educational outcomes”. The article also argued that a poor educational system “perpetuates inequality” and fails many children “with the poor hardest hit”. It is undoubtable that access to a quality education not only has positive impacts for a child but also for all of society. Some devastating statics noted that “three-quarters of children aged nine cannot read for meaning”. This issue in South Africa also seems to varied amongst provinces with statistics showing that reading without comprehension is “as high as 91% in Limpopo and 85% in the Eastern Cape. And of 100 learners that start school, 50-60 will make it to matric, 40-50 will pass matric, and only 14 will go to university”(Amnesty International, 2020).

At Book Village, we will not allow these statistics to persist and part of our mission is to help end the literacy crisis in South Africa. Our hope is that our digital app and library will allow for reading to become more accessible to all young South Africans and that this can help directly target some of the gaps in our educational sector.

This Youth Day, we continue to be inspired by the determination of the youth of 1976 in their quest to advocate for equal education for all. This tragic day is a reminder of where we have come from and our responsibility as a country to continue to advocate for the rights of children, particularly their educational rights.

]]> Hector: A Boy, a Protest and the Photograph that Changed Apartheid https://bookvillage.co.za/hector-a-boy-a-protest-and-the-photograph-that-changed-apartheid/ Tue, 16 Jun 2020 04:36:10 +0000 https://bookvillage.co.za/?p=589 Read more]]>

Photo cred: Robert Cutts

Inspired by Sam Nzima’s iconic photo of Hector Pieterson, author-illustrator Adrienne Wright has created a beautiful, graphic history book that brings the June 16th, 1976 Soweto school protests to life. This historic day is now celebrated as Youth Day in South Africa. 

The book is written as an oral history giving accounts from Hector, his older sister Antoinette and Sam, the photographer.  The powerful illustrations give a faithful account of an ordinary 12-year-old boy and his family living in Soweto, and accurately reflect their daily lives up to that terrible day.

The fire and energy of the protest is brought to life through the vivid, moving pictures – you can almost hear the beautiful Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika erupting from the pages.

Children from about age 9 will enjoy reading the book themselves, but this book is perfect to share with your children of any age.  Use it to start important conversations about equality today and the contributions that many brave people have made in the past.

Hector is available in hard cover from Amazon.

The author-illustrator Adrienne Wright grew up in South Africa and worked with Hector’s sister, Antoinette and the photo-journalist Sam Nzima while creating the book.  She now lives in America.

She has been an amazing help to us, going out of her way to get us a copy of Hector from a friend of hers in Jo’burg before Youth Day this year. Hector will be a great addition to the Cosmo City Primary library.

Some things that we loved while doing our research for this book included an interview with Adrienne which you can find here.

The author gives us insight into her creative process, including the writing and illustrating journey here. 

Finally, Adrienne’s image of George Floyd that she posted on Instagram was picked up by the New York Times in an article about artists responding to his death. This is a great achievement.

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