This Year's Youth Day.

This year’s Youth Day was a totally different experience for this young lady. Chanel O posted the image of their latest advertisement. It is a re-make of the original 1976 protest image where Mbuyisa Makhuba is carrying Hector Pieterson’s body alongside Pieterson’s devastated sister Antoinette Pieterson. How I got introduced to this ad was because a friend of mine sent it to me the morning of National Youth Day, 16 June.

My ever-excited friend was sharing this image as a reflection because he was part of the team that styled the shoot. Now just like that I began to see the reality of the subject matter of the actual image. I met and became inseparable friends with this young man during our high school years, we shared a common interest in the fashion industry and we have pursued this passion further.

Immediately I grew ever so grateful for the fight that was conquered for our direct gain. The battle conquered for the many generations that will follow us, conquered by the youth of 1976. I will not lie, this is a truth I have taken for granted for the bulk of my life. I have also been made aware that most of he young takes this for granted and I’m afraid to say it makes sense why. It has been said many times that if you have not worked for something, you tend to take it for granted. You tend to believe that you are meant to have, that it is your right to have it. The concept behind the Chanel O advert is one that reminds us that the education offered to us, as the youth of 2015 now only became a right because it was fought for back then. One could be tempted to believe that because the battle was conquered then, there is therefore no need for any kind of ‘fight’ whatsoever. I boldly disagree!

I believe that the battle was conquered by the youth of 1976 and what happens further is all up to the generations that follow that. I believe that battles are conquered in order for they are to be a continuation to the story of the battle. I believe that conquering is more that just winning. According to the Oxford dictionary to conquer means to overcome and take control of (a place or people) by military force. Taking that definition into consideration will show just how the story is still being written. Our duty now is to soldier on with the empowerment we obtain from education. Let us also go into the books we find the youth of ’76 in, and even MORE!!

Thank you Youth of 1976!