The Future is no better place

To place your better days

Cry Freedom Cry

Let this flag burn to dust

Hands and feet are all alike

But gold between divide us

Where we are all confined

Nelson Mandela

ABIDING FRIENDSHIP: Steve Biko, left, and former editor of the Daily Dispatch Donald Woods during the 1970s.

Black Consciousness The most potent weapon of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.  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. 

Soweto Uprising 16 June 1976

The problem in Soweto started because the government wanted the students to be taught Afrikaans. This was a problem for the students because the students felt that Afrikaans was the language of the oppressor.

"They opened fire. They did not give any warning "They opened fire. They did not give any warning. They simply opened fire. Just like that. Just like that. And small children, small defenseless children, dropped down to the ground like swatted flies. This is murder, cold-blooded murder."

Soweto June 1976. Mbuyisa Makhubu carries the body of Hector Pieterson, shot by police during the student protest against Afrikaans.

Steve Biko died on September 12, 1977

New York Times East London, South Africa, Sept. 13--Steven Biko, probably the most influential young black leader in South Africa, died while in police detention last night, allegedly after a hunger striker, and there were fears that his death could increase racial tension. Justice Minister James T. Kruger said in a statement that Mr. Biko, who was 30 years old, had died in a hospital in Pretoria, the administrative capital, after refusing food and water since Sept. 5. The minister said that the cause of death would be established officially at a post-mortem to be performed by the chief state pathologist, with a private pathologist nominated by the Biko family in attendance. The announcement stunned the black community, particularly young activitists, many of whom regarded Mr. Biko as their leader. Tall and powerfully built, he was generally acknowledged as the founder and central figure in the "black consciousness" movement, which espouses ideas similar to the black movement in the United States.