Steve Biko
Stephen Bantu Biko (18 December 1946 – 12 September 1977)[1] was a South African activist. He is famous for his activism against apartheid in South Africa during the 1960s and 1970s.[2] He created the Black Consciousness Movement.[3]
Stephen Biko | |
|---|---|
| File:Steve Biko Portrait saho.jpg | |
| Born | Stephen Bantu Biko 18 December 1946 |
| Died | 12 September 1977 (aged 30) |
| Occupation | Activist |
| Spouse(s) | Ntsiki Mashalaba |
| Children | Nkosinathi Biko, Samora Biko, Lerato Biko, Motlatsi Biko and Hlumelo Biko |
Life
Biko was born in Ginsberg Township (now called the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa). He started high school at Lovedale High School. However, he was kicked out of school because of his political ideas about South Africa. He finished high school at St. Francis College.
During the late 1960s, Biko was a medical student at the University of Natal. During this time, he helped create the South African Students' Organisation. The organization later changed into the Black Consciousness Movement, and elected Biko as its first president in 1968.[4]
As a student, during the early 1970s, Biko fought against apartheid in many ways. Eventually, in 1972, he was kicked out of the University of Natal. In February 1973, the South African apartheid government banned Biko. This severely limited his freedom of speech.
Biko and the Black Consciousness Movement played key roles in organizing protests, led by South African high school students, that resulted in the Soweto Uprising.
Death
On 18 August 1977, Biko was arrested. He died on 12 September 1977 due to injuries he got while in police custody.
Steve Biko Media
Biko was briefly educated at the Lovedale boarding school in Alice.
The apartheid system of racial segregation pervaded all areas of life; Biko was committed to its overthrow.
Steve Biko's house in Ginsberg, Eastern Cape
Biko became a close friend of white liberal activist Donald Woods, who wrote a book about Biko after his death.
Biko's coffin featured the motif of a clenched black fist. Many in the Black Consciousness Movement used this fist as a symbol.[5]
Steve Biko on a stained glass window in the Saint Anna Church in Heerlen, the Netherlands
References
- ↑ "Stephen Bantu Biko". South African history on-line. September 2007. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
- ↑ Samuel A. Paul (1 January 2009). The Ubuntu God: Deconstructing a South African Narrative of Oppression. Wipf and Stock Publishers. pp. 47–. ISBN 978-1-63087-820-7.
- ↑ "Black Consciousness movement". Encyclopedia Britannica.
- ↑ "Steve Biko: Biography". Bio. A&E Television Networks, LLC. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
- ↑ Hill 2015, p. 10.
Other websites
- Young Black Leader Dies in Detention in South Africa, Raising Fears of New Unrest By John F. Burns, special to the New York Times
- Thesis on the prospects of Bikoism in today's South Africa Archived 2011-07-19 at the Wayback Machine
- The Steve Biko Foundation
- The relevance of Black Consciousness today
- Donald Woods talks in 1987 about his friendship with Steve Biko
- New Introduction to I Write What I Like by Lewis Gordon
- Black Consciousness: The dialectics of liberation