On this day in 1960, the Sharpeville Massacre occurred at a police station in Sharpeville, South Africa when police fired into a crowd of anti-apartheid protesters, killing 69 people and injuring at least 180 more.
The protests were organized by the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC), a black nationalist rival to the African National Congress (ANC). More than 20,000 protesters showed up at the police station in opposition to apartheid.
The unarmed crowd was met with armored police armed with Sten submachine guns and Lee–Enfield rifles. After F-86 Sabre jets and Harvard Trainers flew low over the crowd, within a hundred feet of the ground, in an attempt to scatter it, the crowd began throwing rocks at police.
The police responded by opening fire on the crowd, killing 69 people and injuring 180 others. 29 children were casualties of the violence, and many people were shot in the back as they fled.
A storm of international protest followed the Sharpeville shootings, including sympathetic demonstrations in many countries and condemnation from the United Nations. Sharpeville marked a turning point in South Africa's history; the country found itself increasingly isolated in the international community.
The Sharpeville Massacre contributed to the banning of the PAC and ANC as illegal organizations. The massacre was one of the catalysts for a shift from passive resistance to armed resistance by both of these groups.
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Links To Resources (Aid and Theory):
Aid:
- 💙Comprehensive list of resources for those in need of an abortion -- reddit link
- 💙Resources for Palestine
Theory:
The social movement in France is getting fucking serious. The cops have been fucking unleashed (a few representative video examples there, all from the last few days - ignore the awful sub though, and also CW violence obviously) and it's a matter of time before there's a death if this continues. Today Macron decided to address the country publicly - at the 1pm national news TV journal, basically when most people watching are retirees - and just piled contempt upon contempt (daring the compare the current protests to the US's January 6th for example, among other things; also thinly suggesting the long-term-unemployed are also to blame). Of the police violence, no mention, of course - despite official protests by, among many others, Amnesty International, a galaxy of human rights non-profits, and french judges.
People are very very pissed off, in a way I haven't seen before; tomorrow is the next big strike (mind you, there are protests and direct actions every single day at this point - despite mainstream news not covering a lot of it).
That video was infuriating to watch. Solidarity to everyone out there. I hope they make Macron regret forcing that law through
:rat-salute-2:
Reject peaceful protest. Return to tradition :onechoppyboi: