Introduction
Bantu Stephen Biko (1946-1977) was a pivotal figure in South Africa's anti-apartheid struggle. As a staunch advocate for African nationalism and African socialism, Biko spearheaded the Black Consciousness Movement, a grassroots campaign that challenged racial segregation and white-minority rule. His life and death became a symbol of resistance, inspiring generations to fight for equality and justice.
Early Life and Education
Born on December 18, 1946, in Tarkastad, Eastern Cape, Biko was raised in a poor Xhosa family in Ginsberg township. His given name "Bantu" means "people" in IsiXhosa. He spent two years at St. Andrews Primary School and four at Charles Morgan Higher Primary School, both in Ginsberg. He was nicknamed "Goofy" and "Xwaku-Xwaku" as a child. Biko's father passed away in 1950 when Biko was four.
Biko's early education took place in Ginsberg, where he attended St. Andrews Primary School and Charles Morgan Higher Primary School. He was a bright student, skipping a year due to his intelligence. He later attended Forbes Grant Secondary School, excelling in maths and English. In 1964 he joined his brother Khaya as a student at Lovedale, a prestigious boarding school in Alice, Eastern Cape. However, his time at Lovedale was cut short when he was expelled due to his brother's alleged connections with Poqo, the armed wing of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC). From 1964 to 1965, Biko studied at St. Francis College, a Catholic boarding school in Mariannhill, Natal. The college had a liberal political culture, and Biko developed his political consciousness there.
Emergence as an Activist
In 1966, Biko began studying medicine at the University of Natal. It was here that he became deeply involved in anti-apartheid activism, joining the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS). While NUSAS officially opposed apartheid, Biko grew frustrated with its white-dominated structure and what he perceived as its ineffectiveness in addressing the needs of black students.
Biko and several other black African NUSAS members were frustrated when it organised parties in white dormitories, which black Africans were forbidden to enter. In July 1967, a NUSAS conference was held at Rhodes University in Grahamstown; after the students arrived, they found that dormitory accommodation had been arranged for the white and Indian delegates but not the black Africans, who were told that they could sleep in a local church. He believed that well-intentioned white liberals failed to comprehend the black experience and often acted in a paternalistic manner. This led him to believe that black people needed to organize independently to avoid white domination.
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The South African Students' Organisation (SASO)
In 1968, Biko played a leading role in founding the South African Students' Organisation (SASO). Membership was open only to "Blacks", a term that Biko used in reference not just to Bantu-speaking Africans but also to Coloureds and Indians. He was careful to keep his movement independent of white liberals, but opposed anti-white hatred and had white friends. SASO became a powerful platform for black students to articulate their grievances, develop their leadership skills, and mobilize against apartheid.
Black Consciousness Movement
Influenced by thinkers like Frantz Fanon, Biko and his compatriots developed Black Consciousness as SASO's official ideology. The movement campaigned for an end to apartheid and the transition of South Africa toward universal suffrage and a socialist economy. Black Consciousness emphasized the importance of psychological liberation and self-reliance for black people. Biko believed that black people needed to rid themselves of any sense of racial inferiority, an idea he expressed by popularizing the slogan "black is beautiful".
Biko developed SASO's ideology of "Black Consciousness" in conversation with other black student leaders. A SASO policy manifesto produced in July 1971 defined this ideology as "an attitude of mind, a way of life. The basic tenet of Black Consciousness is that the Blackman must reject all value systems that seek to make him a foreigner in the country of his birth and reduce his basic human dignity."
Black Community Programmes (BCPs)
The Black Consciousness Movement extended beyond student activism through the establishment of Black Community Programmes (BCPs). These initiatives focused on addressing the socio-economic needs of black communities, providing healthcare, education, and economic development opportunities. In 1972, he was involved in founding the Black People's Convention (BPC) to promote Black Consciousness ideas among the wider population.
Government Repression and Banning
Biko's growing influence and the increasing popularity of the Black Consciousness Movement alarmed the apartheid government. In 1973, he was placed under a banning order, severely restricting his movements, speech, and associations. Despite these restrictions, Biko remained politically active, finding ways to support BCPs and inspire resistance. During his ban he received repeated anonymous threats, and was detained by state security services on several occasions.
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In December 1975, attempting to circumvent the restrictions of the banning order, the BPC declared Biko their honorary president. After Biko and other BCM leaders were banned, a new leadership arose, led by Muntu Myeza and Sathasivian Cooper, who were considered part of the Durban Moment.
Death and Aftermath
In August 1977, Biko was arrested and brutally tortured by state security officers. He died on September 12, 1977, from brain injuries sustained during the torture. The news of his death sent shockwaves throughout South Africa and the international community, exposing the brutality of the apartheid regime.
Biko's coffin featured the motif of a clenched black fist. Speaking publicly about Biko's death, the country's police minister Jimmy Kruger initially implied that it had been the result of a hunger strike, a statement he later denied.
Legacy
Biko's death transformed him into a global icon of resistance against apartheid. His writings and speeches continue to inspire activists and scholars around the world. He became the subject of numerous songs and works of art, while a 1978 biography by his friend Donald Woods formed the basis for the 1987 film Cry Freedom.
After the abolition of apartheid and the establishment of a majority government in 1994, a Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established to investigate past human-rights abuses. The commission made plans to investigate Biko's death, but his family petitioned against this on the grounds that the commission could grant amnesty to those responsible, thereby preventing the family's right to justice and redress.
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Biko is remembered as a political martyr and the "Father of Black Consciousness." His philosophy continues to resonate with those fighting for social justice and equality.
Biko's Philosophy and Ideology
Biko rejected the apartheid government's division of South Africa's population into "whites" and "non-whites". Building on Fanon's work, Biko regarded "non-white" as a negative category, defining people in terms of an absence of whiteness. In response, Biko replaced "non-white" with the category "black", which he regarded as being neither derivative nor negative. He defined blackness as a "mental attitude" rather than a "matter of pigmentation", referring to "blacks" as "those who are by law or tradition politically, economically and socially discriminated against as a group in the South African society" and who identify "themselves as a unit in the struggle towards the realization of their aspirations". In this way, he and the Black Consciousness Movement used "black" in reference not only to Bantu-speaking Africans but also to Coloureds and Indians, who together made up almost 90% of South Africa's population in the 1970s.
Biko was not a Marxist and believed that it was oppression based on race, rather than class, which would be the main political motivation for change in South Africa. He argued that those on the "white left" often promoted a class-based analysis as a "defence mechanism… primarily because they want to detach us from anything relating to race.
Biko saw white racism in South Africa as the totality of the white power structure. He argued that under apartheid, white people not only participated in the oppression of black people but were also the main voices in opposition to that oppression. He thus argued that in dominating both the apartheid system and the anti-apartheid movement, white people totally controlled the political arena, leaving black people marginalised. He believed white people were able to dominate the anti-apartheid movement because of their access to resources, education.