The Amandla is Unity exhibition, now on display in the Art and Interactive Multimedia Building and the Gitenstein Library, explores the contributions of South African youth in resisting apartheid.
Organized and co-curated by Marla Jaksch, professor of women’s, gender, and sexuality studies, and Ebony Riley ’26, a women’s, gender, and sexuality studies and English double major, the exhibit draws from the Apartheid Heritage Archive of the late Ángel David Nieves.
Nieves, a professor at Northeastern University and Jaksch’s former research partner, assembled the collection during his academic career. The exhibit dives into the history of the Soweto uprisings in 1976, when South African police opened fire on Black student protesters.
“It is important to learn about the significance and courage of the actions by young people in the face of this oppression, as it ultimately led to the undoing of apartheid in South Africa,” Jaksch explained.
The title of the exhibition is inspired by the rallying cry of South African student protestors fighting against the apartheid government’s educational initiatives. As students set out to peacefully protest on June 16, 1976, they were met with heavily armed police forces who tear-gassed and fired at them. Among those killed was 12-year-old Hector Pieterson, whose death drew international attention and ignited a wave of protests against apartheid across South Africa and around the world. Protesters called out “Amandla,” a Xhosa and Zulu word meaning “power,” to which others would respond “Ngawethu” meaning “to us.”
“The materials on display were purposefully and meticulously collected and cared for, and we are so fortunate to be able to encounter and learn from them,” Jaksch said.
Honored annually as Youth Day on June 16, this year marks 50 years since students in Soweto set out to voice their resistance against apartheid.
The exhibition will run until March 6, 2026, and is now on display in AIMM galleries 111 and 119, and on the first floor of the Gitenstein Library. For more information, visit the TCNJ Art Gallery website.
— Leah Cruz ’26