Dear Adult.

From the day we were born we’ve been hearing that we are “born frees.” We’ve been hearing about the struggles of our predecessors and the fights they put up to ensure we would be given a fighting chance in a country bursting with potential. We have always been told that the youth started the revolution and won the fight. Peacefully. Successfully. Honestly.

That’s the story we grew up with. That’s the reality we know.  This is what you have told us time and time again…

That’s what this government has fed us since the day we were born.

In our basic human rights we were told ” Every individual child must have equal access to a quality education adapted to meet his or her needs.” and I assure you, we know our rights. We’ve had them drilled into us the way our parents had the times tables drilled into their minds. We know what we should be getting but now our question is simple “where is it?”

Where is the “Quality education” that is accessible to all? And ALL includes the poor child whose shoes and clothes are in tatters and who works every night to feed his six younger siblings because his parents were killed by one of the many diseases plaguing our country.  And why is the millionaire’s son who owns a Ferrari more bound to his educational needs?

Our country is in dire need of professionals. We desperately need people who come from the communities that crave the touch of professional guidance and skilled work in order to prosper and rise in a country that is moving forward and becoming part of a world that strays from the traditions we  are used to. We as the youth are the future of the country. We are made to be the weld between tradition and modernization. That is the legacy you left us. This is the task we were handed.

But we have been crippled by a system that favors only the successful. A system that has no place for the poor or middle class student. A system that financially excludes well deserving students who would take the skills and professions they learn back to the communities that are crying out for help.

You fought your fight. Apartheid fell at the hands of the desperate youth fighting for the futures of both those around them and those who would come after them.  You, as adults, showed courage and strength at the face of adversity. You stood tall against a government who did not acknowledge you as a threat until it was too late.

You had your uprising.

Now we have ours.

It is time for the adults to listen to the youth.

Human nature is to fight for what you need or flee from what is depriving you of what you need. If you don’t need it the fight seems frivolous and inconvenient. This is our life and death. This is what we need to survive. We are fighting for our rights that we were promised. We are fighting for ourselves and for those who come after us.

Too much of the last few days has resembled scenes of the past. You have become the government you fought and today you face the wrath they faced. Our voices are stronger. Our words hold more power and our unity is unshakable.

Be warned dear government, we as students will not stop until you tremble before us and deliver the promises you made. Be warned that this is the youth that will remove you from your pedestals. Remember that while our parents and the members of your generation may idolize your efforts during the apartheid struggle we have none of that loyalty. We do not owe you our blood, not any more. You will not keep us in the dark. You will not leave us uneducated. You do not get to make us puppets that dance to songs that have nothing to do with the struggles we face today.

Today, we are the youth. Today, we have our own struggles. Today, we fight for our own futures.

Today we rewrite history.

Amandla,

A student who is proudly part of the revolution.