Edward McGlone
Re-entry blog post
This picture was taken at the memorial for the Trojan Horse Massacre, an event that helped turn the tide of international opinion against that Apartheid regime’s increasingly violent suppression of independence movements. The Trojan Horse Massacre happened in the townships of Athlone and Crossroads in 1985 when Apartheid police forces hid in crates on the back of a delivery truck and jumped out, gunning down virtually any people within their sight. The graffiti pictured on the wall is symbolic beyond the basic message of “stop state violence.” First, the colors the graffiti is written in the banned colors of the African National Congress: yellow, green, and black. Second, and more importantly, the act of political graffiti itself was incredibly important. Any citizen caught writing political graffiti risked serious punishment and a long prison sentence. The graffiti now on the wall commemorates the brave act of political resistance that similar graffiti, which once lined the streets, played in the fight against Apartheid.