Stephen Bantu Biko

In light of remembering all our struggle heroes and looking back at history…we couldn’t help but not profile this remarkable man: Steve Biko. He like many of the people that fought in the struggle made a huge contribution to the fight for democracy/freedom…Sadly, he is one of many who isn’t  alive today to see the fruits of all their labour but I’m sure he knows that what he fought for was not in vain. Viva Steve Biko!

• Stephen Bantu Biko (18 December 1946 – 12 September 1977) was a noted anti-apartheid activist in South Africa in the 1960s and ’70s.
• A student leader, he later founded the Black Consiousness movement which would empower and mobilize much of the urban black population.
• Since his death in police custody, he has been called a matyr of the anti-apartheid movement.
• While living, his writings and activism attempted to empower black people, and he was famous for his slogan “black is beautiful”, which he described as meaning: “man, you are okay as you are, begin to look upon yourself as a human being”.
• Despite friction between the African National Congress and Biko in the ’70s the ANC has included Biko in the pantheon of struggle heroes, going as far as using his image for campaign posters in South Africa’s first non-racial elections in 1994.

Long Live the Spirit of Black Consiousness!!