Steven Bantu Biko (18 December 1946 – 12 September 1977)
"Black man, you are on your
own."
Slogan coined by Steve Biko for the South African Student's Organisation, SASO.
"So as a prelude whites
must be made to realise that they are only human, not superior. Same with
Blacks. They must be made to realise that they are also human, not inferior."
As quoted in the Boston Globe, 25 October 1977.
"You are either alive and
proud or you are dead, and when you are dead, you can't care anyway."
On Death, I Write What I Like, 1978
"The most potent weapon in
the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed."
Speech in Cape Town, 1971
"The basic tenet of black
consciousness is that the black man must reject all value systems that seek to
make him a foreigner in the country of his birth and reduce his basic human
dignity."
From Steve Biko's evidence given at the SASO/BPC trial, 3 May 1976.
"Being black is not a
matter of pigmentation - being black is a reflection of a mental attitude."
The Definition of Black Consciousness, I Write What I Like, 1978.
"Merely by describing
yourself as black you have started on a road towards emancipation, you have
committed yourself to fight against all forces that seek to use your blackness
as a stamp that marks you out as a subservient being."
The Definition of Black Consciousness, I Write What I Like, 1978.