On September12th in 1977 Stephen Bantu Biko, noted anti-apartheid nonviolent activist in the 1960s and leader of the black consciousness movement in South Africa, died in police custody. He was 30 years old. His life was dramatized in the movie Cry Freedom where he was played by Denzel Washington. Numerous songs have been written about the slain revolutionary. Here are 2 of them and some more info about him below.

Straight classic! Linden Blvd. reprezent zent…

My favorite of all the songs about Biko is this one. It tells the man’s story, tells it like it is and makes it plain. This to me is artistry. Let’s see Tony Matterhorn pull this off.

Apartheid means “apartness” in Afrikaans, a language spoken in parts of South Africa. Under the South African apartheid system the white minority government restricted where the Asians, the Mixed race people and the Black people could live, own businesses and own land, especially the Black people. On top of that for the non white groups education, jobs, and unions were separate and substandard. Participation in government was limited also.

A number of Blacks and some whites opposed these laws and actively resisted through strikes, demonstrations and sabotage. They were often met with violence and punishment from the government. Steve Biko was one of the people who resisted.

A smart kid in school, Steve Biko got good grades but was kicked out of high school for his political activities, which didn’t stop him from eventually going to medical school. He became even more involved political activities. Biko’s philosophy was that Black people were psychologically effected by oppression and were internalizing negative stereotypes about themselves. He preached “Black is Beautiful” and “break the chains of oppression” to Black people.

His speeches caught the attention of the authorities and he was banned from speaking. Despite detention and harassment by the police Biko continued speaking for 4 years. In late August of 1977 Biko was detained by police, questioned, starved, beaten till he was unconscious. On September 12, 1977 he died and the police lied about the whole thing.

His death was mourned by the world. 15,000 people showed up to his funeral and it received world wide attention.

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