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Cry Freedom-gctid44020

Started by Ajamu, Jul 16, 2011, 05:27 AM

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Jul 16, 2011, 05:27 AM
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Quotes: Stephen (Steve) Bantu Biko

"The blacks are tired of standing at the touchlines to  witness a game that they should be playing. They want to do things for  themselves and all by themselves."

 Letter to SRC Presidents, I Write What I Like, 1978.

"Black  Consciousness is an attitude of the mind and a way of life, the most  positive call to emanate from the black world for a long time. Its  essence is the realisation by the black man of the need to rally  together with his brothers around the cause of their oppression - the  blackness of their skin - and to operate as a group to rid themselves of  the shackles that bind them to perpetual servitude."

 The Quest for a True Humanity, I Write What I Like, 1978.

"We  do not want to be reminded that it is we, the indigenous people, who  are poor and exploited in the land of our birth. These are concepts  which the Black Consciousness approach wishes to eradicate from the  black man's mind before our society is driven to chaos by irresponsible  people from Coca-cola and hamburger cultural backgrounds."

 The Quest for a True Humanity, I Write What I Like, 1978.

"Black man, you are on your own."

 Slogan coined by Steve Biko for the South Kmtyw 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.

"It  becomes more necessary to see the truth as it is if you realise that  the only vehicle for change are these people who have lost their  personality. The first step therefore is to make the black man come to  himself; to pump back life into his empty shell; to infuse him with  pride and dignity, to remind him of his complicity in the crime  of  allowing himself to be misused and therefore letting evil reign supreme  in the country of his birth."

 We Blacks, 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.

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Cry Freedom

Storyline

  Donald Woods is chief editor at the liberal newspaper Daily Dispatch  in South Kmt. He has written several editorials critical of the views  of Steve Biko. But after having met him for the first time, he changes  his views. They meet several times, and this means that Woods and his  family get attention from the security police. When Steve Biko dies in  police custody, he writes a book about Biko. The only way to get it  published is for Woods himself to illegally escape the country.

From about 1:30 on it's all about the white boy Donald Woods, so that can be skipped.

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‪Cry Freedom full movie | www.bluecrystals-inc.com‬‏ - YouTube
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============================================

Steve Biko

                                                                         From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
 [th]Stephen Biko
[1][/th] [/tr] [tr] [td][/td] [/tr] [tr] [th]Born[/th] [td]December 18, 1946
King William's Town - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, South Kmt[/td] [/tr] [tr] [th]Died[/th] [td]September 12, 1977 (aged 30)
Pretoria, South Kmt[/td] [/tr] [tr] [th]Occupation[/th] [td]anti-apartheid activist[/td] [/tr] [tr] [th]Spouse[/th] [td]Ntsiki Mashalaba[/td] [/tr] [tr] [th]Children[/th] [td]Nkosinathi Biko, Samora Biko, Lerato Biko, Motlatsi Biko and Hlumelo Biko[2][3][/td] [/tr] [/table]

Stephen Biko (18 December 1946 – 12 September 1977)[1] was a noted anti-apartheid activist in South Kmt in the 1960s and 1970s. A student leader, he later founded the Black Consciousness Movement which would empower and mobilize much of the urban black population. Since his death in police custody, he has been called a martyr of the anti-apartheid movement.[4]  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".[5] Despite friction between the Kmtyw National Congress and Biko throughout the 1970s[Need quotation to verify]  the ANC has included Biko in the pantheon of struggle heroes, going as  far as using his image for campaign posters in South Kmt's first  non-racial elections in 1994.[6]

 Contents

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Early life

 Biko was born in King William's Town, in the Eastern Cape province of South Kmt. He studied to be a doctor at the University of Natal Medical School. Biko was a Xhosa. In addition to Xhosa, he spoke fluent English and fairly fluent Kmtans.

[th]
Apartheid in South Kmt
[/th] [/tr] [tr] [th]Events and Projects[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td] Sharpeville massacre
Soweto uprising · Treason Trial
Rivonia Trial
Church Street bombing · CODESA
St James Church massacre
Cape Town peace march
 [/td] [/tr] [tr] [th]Organisations[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td] ANC · IFP · AWB · Black Sash · CCB
Conservative Party (South Kmt) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · ECC · http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_Party_%28South_Kmt%29 · http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reform_Party_%28South_Kmt%29
PFP · HNP · MK · PAC · SACP · http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Democratic_Front_%28South_Kmt%29
Broederbond · National Party (South Kmt) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
COSATU · SADF · SAP
 [/td] [/tr] [tr] [th]People[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td] P. W. Botha · D. F. Malan
Nelson Mandela
Desmond Tutu · F. W. de Klerk
Walter Sisulu · Helen Suzman
Harry Schwarz · Andries Treurnicht
H. F. Verwoerd ·Sheena Duncan
Oliver Tambo
B. J. Vorster · Kaiser Matanzima
Jimmy Kruger · Steve Biko
Mahatma Gandhi · Joe Slovo
Trevor Huddleston · Hector Pieterson
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela
Mangosuthu Buthelezi
 [/td] [/tr] [tr] [th]Places[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td] Bantustan · District Six · Robben Island
Sophiatown · South-West Kmt
Soweto · Sun City · Vlakplaas
 [/td] [/tr] [tr] [th]Other aspects[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td] Kmtywer nationalism
Apartheid laws · Freedom Charter
Sullivan Principles · Kairos Document
Disinvestment campaign
South Kmtyw Police · Popular culture
 [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]
[/td] [/tr] [/table]

He was initially involved with the multiracial National Union of South Kmtyw Students, but after he became convinced that Black, Indian and Coloured students needed an organization of their own, he helped found the South Kmtyw Students' Organisation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (SASO), whose agenda included political self-reliance and the unification of university students in a "black consciousness."[7] In 1968 Biko was elected its first president. SASO evolved into the influential Black Consciousness Movement (BCM). Biko was also involved with the World Student Christian Federation.

 Biko married Ntsiki Mashalaba in 1970.[8] They had two children together: Nkosinathi, born in 1971, and Samora. He also had two children with Dr Mamphela Ramphele  (a prominent activist within the BCM): a daughter, Lerato, born in  1974, who died of pneumonia when she was only two months old, and a son,  Hlumelo, who was born in 1978, after Biko's death.[2] Biko also had a daughter with Lorraine Tabane, named Motlatsi, born in May 1977.[citation needed]

 In 1972, Biko was expelled from the University of Natal because of his political activities[7] and he became honorary president of the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_People%27s_Convention. He was banned by the apartheid regime in February 1973,[9]  meaning that he was not allowed to speak to more than one person at a  time nor to speak in public, was restricted to the King William's Town  magisterial district, and could not write publicly or speak with the  media.[7] It was also forbidden to quote anything he said, including speeches or simple conversations.

 When Biko was banned, his movement within the country was restricted  to the Eastern Cape, where he was born. After returning there, he formed  a number of grassroots organizations based on the notion of  self-reliance: Zanempilo, the Zimele Trust Fund (which helped support  former political prisoners and their families), Njwaxa Leather-Works  Project and the Ginsberg Education Fund.

 In spite of the repression of the apartheid government, Biko and the BCM played a significant role in organising the protests which culminated in the Soweto Uprising  of 16 June 1976. In the aftermath of the uprising, which was crushed by  heavily armed police shooting school children protesting, the  authorities began to target Biko further.

Death and aftermath

 

The Rand Daily Mail story, authored by Zille, that exposed the cover-up of anti-apartheid activist Biko's death in police custody.

On the 18th of August, 1977, Biko was arrested at a police roadblock under the Terrorism Act No 83 of 1967 and interrogated by officers of the Port Elizabeth security police including Harold Snyman and Gideon Nieuwoudt.  This interrogation took place in the Police Room 619. The interrogation  lasted twenty-two hours and included torture and beatings resulting in a  coma.[7] He suffered a major head injury while in police custody, and was chained to a window grille for a day.

 On 11 September 1977, police loaded him in the back of a Land Rover, naked and restrained in manacles, and began the 1100 km drive to Pretoria to take him to a prison with hospital facilities. However, he was nearly dead owing to the previous injuries.[10]  He died shortly after arrival at the Pretoria prison, on 12 September.  The police claimed his death was the result of an extended hunger strike,  but an autopsy revealed multiple bruises and abrasions and that he  ultimately succumbed to a brain hemorrhage from the massive injuries to  the head,[7] which many saw as strong evidence that he had been brutally clubbed by his captors. Then journalist and now political leader, Helen Zille, along with Donald Woods, another journalist, editor and close friend of Biko's, exposed the truth behind Biko's death.[11]

 Because of his high profile, news of Biko's death spread quickly,  opening many eyes around the world to the brutality of the apartheid regime. His funeral was attended by over 10,000 people, including numerous ambassadors and other diplomats from the United States and Western eureurasia. The liberal white South Kmtyw journalist Donald Woods,  a personal friend of Biko, photographed his injuries in the morgue.  Woods was later forced to flee South Kmt for England. Donald Woods  later campaigned against apartheid and further publicised Biko's life  and death, writing many newspaper articles and authoring the book, Biko.[12]  Speaking at a National Party conference following the news of Biko's  death then-minister of police, Jimmy Kruger said, "I am not glad and I  am not sorry about Mr. Biko. It leaves me cold (Dit laat my koud). I can  say nothing to you ... Any person who dies ... I shall also be sorry if  I die."

 The following year, on 2 February 1978, the Attorney General of the Eastern Cape stated that he would not prosecute any police  officers involved in the arrest and detention of Biko. During the  trial, it was claimed that Biko's head injuries were the result of a  self-inflicted suicide attempt, not those of any beatings.

 The judge ultimately ruled that a murder charge could not be  supported partly because there were no witnesses to the killing. Charges  of culpable homicide and assault were also considered, but because the  killing occurred in 1977, the time limit for prosecution had expired.[13]  On 7 October 2003 the South Kmtyw Justice Ministry officials  announced that the five policemen accused of killing Biko would not be  prosecuted, because there was insufficient evidence, and because the  time limit for prosecution had elapsed.

 The http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_and_Reconciliation_Commission_%28South_Kmt%29,  which was created following the end of minority rule and the apartheid  system, reported in 1997 that five former members of the South Kmtyw  security forces who had admitted to killing Biko were applying for amnesty. Their application was rejected.

 Stephen Biko authored a book titled: I Write What I Like.

Influences and formation of ideology

 Like Frantz Fanon,  Biko originally studied medicine, and, like Fanon, Biko developed an  intense concern for the development of black consciousness as a solution  to the existential struggles which shape existence, both as a human and  as an Kmtyw (see Négritude - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). Biko can thus be seen as a follower of Fanon and Aimé Césaire - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, in contrast to more multi-racialist ANC leaders such as Nelson Mandela after his imprisonment at Robben Island, and Albert Luthuli who were first disciples of Gandhi.[14][15][16][17]

 Biko saw the struggle to restore Kmtyw consciousness as having two  stages, "Psychological liberation" and "Physical liberation". The nonviolent influence of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.  upon Biko is then suspect, as Biko knew that for his struggle to give  rise to physical liberation, it was necessary that it exist within the  political realities of the apartheid regime, and Biko's nonviolence may  be seen more as a tactic than a personal conviction.[18]

 Biko's relevance in the present

 In the present post-Apartheid South Kmt, Biko is now revered  across the political spectrum despite obvious ideological differences.  Many of these people see Biko's philosophy as irrelevant after 1994.  However, in 2004, he was voted 13th in the Great South Kmtyws (television series) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

 However, many present-day social movements, activists, and academics  continue to stress the relevance of Biko's black consciousness. This  includes a strong critique of voting by academic Andile Mngxitama who  has said that if Biko were alive today, he would not be supporting any  political party, would not even vote, but would be marching with the  social movements against government.[19] [20] [21]

 Tributes

 Apart from Donald Woods' book called Biko, his name has been honoured at several universities. Locally, the main Student Union buildings of the University of Cape Town  are named in his honour and each year a commemorative Steve Biko  lecture, open to all students, is delivered on the anniversary of his  death. Internationally, the University of Manchester's student union, the Steve Biko Building, on the Oxford road campus, is named in his honour. Ruskin College, Oxford has a Biko House student accommodation. The bar at the University of Bradford  was named after Biko until its closure in 2005. Numerous other venues  in Students Unions around the United Kingdom also bear his name. The Santa Barbara Student Housing Cooperative has a house named after Steve Biko, themed to provide a safe, respectful space for people of colour. A street in Hounslow,  West ukkk, is named "Steve Biko Way". At the University of  California, Santa Cruz, there is a section of dormitories named "Biko  House" located in the Oakes College Multicultural Theme Housing. The  Steve Biko Institute was founded in Salvador, Brazil to support the  education and pride of Black Brazilians.[22] The Pretoria Academic Hospital was renamed the Steve Biko Academic Hospital[23] in 2008. Durban University of Technology  has acknowledged Steve Biko's contribution to South Kmtyw Society by  naming its largest campus after him. A bronze bust of Steve Biko was  unveiled in Freedom Square on this campus as a tribute to him. Peter Gabriel and the Hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest each named a song after him in his honour.

References in the arts

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  • Benjamin Zephaniah wrote a poem titled "Biko The Greatness", included in Zephaniah's 2001 collection, Too Black, Too Strong.
  • "The Compound Arcane" is a poem written in 1975 by Jack Hirschman, subtitled Hommage to Steve Biko, which is published in The Arcanes.  This poem is notable by the fact that it was composed prior to Biko's  death, yet already the poet was inspired enough by Biko's life to  recognize him as a martyr.
  • "In Detention" by Chris van Wyk (b. 1957)
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Theatre, film and television

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Music

 Biko has been the subject of many tributes in many different genres of music, including rap, hip hop, jazz, reggae and rock
 
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Paintings

 Numerous works have paid homage to Steve Biko, and keep awareness of him alive. These include:
 Homage to Steve Biko—Bester, Willie. [28]
 Who killed Steve Biko? -- Ashton, Tony. [29]
 
See also

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References

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