The parallels between South Africa and the United States run deep. For the United States, that moment of transition, at least as far as education is concerned, was the landmark ruling of 1954, described in the shorthand, "Brown v. Board of Education"; for South Africa, that moment came 40 years later when every citizen could, for the first time, vote on a nonracial basis under the legal frame provided by a new constitution. There are, of course, important differences between the two countries that partly explain their different historical trajectories of oppression and struggle. Despite these differences, the long relationship between the two countries reveals often unacknowledged ties of racial oppression as well as strong bonds of racial solidarity in the struggle for freedom. Against this historical backdrop of collusion and cooperation, academics and researchers from the two countries gathered in Pretoria, South Africa, in April 2004 to reflect on the meanings of the 50th anniversary of "Brown" and the 10th anniversary of South Africa's transition to democracy. In this chapter, the author contemplates the lessons that should be drawn in this context that could inspire action and instruct thought in the ongoing struggle for equal educational opportunities in the United States and South Africa. (Contains 4 notes.)