STEPHEN |

(CUP)

By Carol Guenther

When South African police left anti-apartheid activist Stephen Biko to die after brutally beating him, they thought they had suc- cessfully silenced him.

The South African gov- ernment should have real- ized that Biko’s influence would not die with him. On the tenth anniversary of his death, Biko lives on as a symbol of Black resistance.

“Symbols don’t die, they become martyrs. And martyrs live forever,” according to P.C. Jones, a black activist who was ar- rested along with Biko in August 1977.

Biko was arrested on August 18, 1977 by the South African security forces becarse his anti-apartheid activism and influence was a serious threat to the apartheid regime. The po- lice beat him severely, caus- ing massive head injuries, chained him to floor of a jeep and transported him 740 miles to a prison hospi- tal. The thirty-one year old activist died of brain .dam- age on September 12.

widespread

Biko was a charismatic

figure, an intellectual ex-—

ceptionally able to spur others to action with his vi- sion of a liberated South Africa. He played a large part in the development of Black Consciousness, a movement which stressed Black pride and unity and spurned any involvement with white, liberal

apartheid activists.

anti-

The senseless killing of one of South Africa’s most brilliant and articulate ac- tivists left a legacy of bit- terness and mistrust among the nation’s youth. But the vision he imparted to stu- dents like Gerald Phokobye, the political coordinator of the African and Carribean Stu- dents’ Association at the University of Toronto, has had more far-reaching ef- fects. Phokobye is a South African who lived in exile in Botswana for six years be- fore coming to Canada. His political views were greatly influenced by Biko’s writ- ings on Black Conscious- ness.

“Steve was the embod- iment of Black Conscious-

ness. He trained us polit- ically. Through his own ex- ample and practical work, he taught us to organize, taught us how to talk to people and relate to each other as activists. He also helped us to gain a bet- ter understanding of Black Consciousness through his writings,” Phokobye said.

Black Consciousness began as a movement in the late 1960s. Many Black

university students had be- come disenchanted with the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS) and in 1968, they broke away to form the Seuth African Students Organiza- tion (SASO) with Stephen Biko as its first president.

Biko criticized the white liberals for dominating NUSAS.

“They made all the de- cisions for us. We needed time to look at our own problems and not leave them to people without ex- perience of the terrible con- ditions in the black town- ships or the system of Bantu education (the infe- rior education system for Blacks),” Biko wrote.

After his third year, Biko was expelled from uni- versity for his political ac- tivities. That year, he helped to form the Black People’s Convention, an umbrella political organiza- tion for groups sharing the beliefs of Black Conscious- ness. ;

P.C. Jones, Biko’s friend. and fellow activist, spoke of the influence Biko had on his peers in their struggle against apartheid.

“Biko left with .us an idea and a movement which

are inspiring blacks and

whites on all university campuses. He came from a generation of Black stu- dents who were asking the question, ‘What is our call- ing as Black students and

what is our historic role to fulfill?’ ”

“The answer is that the interests of the Black stu- dent are no different from the interests of the commu- nity from which he or she comes.”

“Today, Biko is a sym-

bol of hope, having been able to show in practical,

non-sensational terms, that it is possible to. live an in- dependent life outside the intentions of the govern- ment,” said Jones.

Jones said there was no political movement prior to Black Consciousness that could effectively address the historic division be- tween different segments of the Black community. When the Black Conscious- ness Movement was banned by the South African gov- ernment in October 1977, the effect on the Black com- munity was devastating.

“The movement that was most able to lead and unify Blacks was de- stroyed in one brutal mo- ment. Today we see 99 per cent of conflict con- tained within Black areas. Violence is inverted vio- lence. Blacks are being killed by other Blacks. This is due to a large extent to cowardly behaviour on the political level by groups like the African National Congress, who do not have the moral depth,to de- nounce what they are see- ing,” said Jones.

During his lifetime, Biko advocated non-violence in the strug- gle against apartheid. To- day, the Black Conscious- ness Movernent is split on the issue of using violence to effect change. The BCM within South Africa does not advocate violence but Phokobye said the exter- nal wing of the BCM ad- vocates the use of revolu- tionary warfare against the apartheid regime.

Robert Fatton, the au- thor of Black Consciousness in South Africa, like many Black Consciousness politi-

cal theorists, sees violence

as inevitable.

“Apartheid, ery, cannot be reformed, only abolished,” said Fat- ton.

Biko saw the impor- tance of mental as well as political liberation for

Black South Africans. “From the beginning,

the Black Consciousness Movement attempted to in- still an ideology of hope brought about by Black unity and the renaissance of the Black mind, from which a new Black culture would spring.”

As it - devel- oped, the Black Conscious- ness Movement’s ideology became more. radical. The emphasis shifted from cul- tural and psychological con- cerns to questions of class and economics.

“There is now a fo- cus on racial oppression and class ex- pectations within the Black Consciousness Movement,” Gerald Phokobye said.

“Therefore, the black

like slav-

working class is seen as the

leading force for change.”

Stephen Biko has greatly influenced many musicians, writers and artists, in addition to the academics and activists that follow his political ex- ample.

Sonia Sanchez, a poet and professor at Temple University in Philadelphia, studies racism in literature and popular culture.

“(Biko) inspires us all to do similar work and have similar visions. He reminds us all not just to be writ- ers, but writers who spread the word about how peo- ple should live and walk as upright human beings,” Sanchez said.

Norman Rich- mond, Presi- dent of the Black Associa- tion of Toronto, feels that music can have a powerful effect in motivating people to respond to poor is- sues.

“The whole African musie experience is a response. African mu- sic is such that you have to be part of it. Musicians carry a message, and even if you’re just. telling peo- ple to party and forget their troubles, it’s a political po- sition,” said Richmond.

Richmond _ said that Stephen Biko is recog: nized by musicians all over the world.

“His committment and

“Otis”

courage are inspiring be- cause he could have left South Africa and been very comfortable, but he chose to stay and deal with the situation,” said Richmond. Biko’s courage to op pose his white oppressors is evident in his words to the South African police: “Listen, if you guys want to do this your way:

so that I can’t respond. you allow me to respond I’m certainly going to ré spond. And I'm afraid yo" may have to kill me in thé process...”

. The police took him “quite literally.

’ s

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