CalEvents:Mar/Mar 30
From Sankofapedia
Notable events for March 30
Date
Event
Significance
March 30, 1959
Protests against apartheid laws in South Africa
On this day, widespread protests occurred in South Africa against apartheid laws, particularly the pass laws that restricted the movement of Black South Africans. These protests were part of a larger anti-apartheid resistance movement that continued to grow throughout the 1960s.
March 30, 1960
South African police open fire on protesters in Cape Town
On this day, police opened fire on anti-apartheid protesters in Langa, Cape Town, South Africa, killing two people and injuring many others. The protest followed the Sharpeville Massacre, which had occurred just days earlier, and highlighted the increasing brutality of the apartheid regime.
March 30, 1972
Guyanese historian Walter Rodney banned from Jamaica
On this day, Guyanese historian and activist Walter Rodney was banned from returning to Jamaica, where he had been a lecturer at the University of the West Indies. Rodney’s radical views on race, class, and colonialism made him a controversial figure, and his ban sparked protests in Jamaica known as the “Rodney Riots.”
March 30, 1980
Zimbabwe’s independence elections conclude
On this day, Zimbabwe’s first post-independence elections concluded. The elections resulted in a victory for Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party, marking the end of white-minority rule in Rhodesia and the establishment of Zimbabwe as an independent nation.
March 30, 1991
Sierra Leone Civil War begins
On this day, the Sierra Leone Civil War officially began when the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), led by Foday Sankoh, launched its first attack. The war, which lasted until 2002, was marked by widespread violence, human rights abuses, and the exploitation of diamond resources, often referred to as “blood diamonds.”
March 30, 2012
South Sudan and Sudan clash over disputed oil-rich border region
On this day, South Sudan and Sudan clashed over the disputed oil-rich region of Heglig. The conflict highlighted the ongoing tensions between the two countries following South Sudan’s independence in 2011 and their struggle over valuable oil resources.
March 30, 2018
Protests erupt in Gaza, part of the “Great March of Return”
On this day, mass protests erupted in Gaza as part of the “Great March of Return,” in which Palestinian protesters demanded the right to return to their ancestral lands. Although this event took place in the Middle East, it resonated with struggles for justice and self-determination across the African diaspora.