While the United States had its struggles with racial injustice, during the 1970s and 1980s, numerous American activists advocated against South African apartheid. This study uncovers why American youth activists (22 years old and younger) cared about apartheid, and how and to what extent they challenged it. To understand the connection between activists from the United States and South Africa, this paper unpacks why South African activists protested police brutality in the United States in 2020. While existing anti-apartheid scholarship covers the role of Black internationalists and policymakers, this analysis focuses on the impact of youth movements on college campuses. An analysis of speeches and university newspapers finds that student activists’ motives behind fighting for anti-apartheid were diverse and complex. Although youth, playing a significant role in ending apartheid, were filled with moral outrage, apartheid’s interconnectedness with themes of separateness and justice increased activists’ dedication to the cause. Similar to how Black Americans supported Black South Africans through the anti-apartheid movement, Black South Africans protested police brutality in the United States in 2020, fighting for Black liberation.