36 years today, the youth of Soweto marched for equality and
freedom of learning. Their path may have been blocked by the gun fire of police
but their ideals marched on. They marched on to a future of educational freedom
for all South Africans regardless of race or religion.
Today we celebrate those ideals and reflect on the path that
each one of us has taken to fulfilling the freedoms these ideals have given us.
Today, the obstruction is not found in the gun fire of
police or the policies of oppression but rather in the resolve within each of
us to be better today than we were yesterday. Let us in our celebration, not
only look back to our past victories and accomplishments but to our future
challenges and how each one of us can overcome them together.