This badge was worn by Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM) protesters in Brent, in memory of the Soweto uprising. In June 1976, students in Soweto and across South Africa marched in protest of the Apartheid government. They were protesting the proposed introduction of Afrikaans as the compulsory language to be used in schools across the country, replacing Zulu and other languages widely spoken by the black African majority. Many saw this as an attempt to disadvantage black schoolchildren. Many schoolchildren and other protesters were killed when police opened fire.
The AAM was a British-based protest group founded in the 1959. Members led campaigns to raise awareness of the apartheid regime in South Africa, put pressure on the government to introduce economic sanctions, boycott South African products and events, free Nelson Mandela from prison, and more.
The AAM logo is inspired by the Chinese yin and yang symbol. The black and white sections represent the segregated South African communities, showing they must join together to fight Apartheid.
