View source for Steve Biko


{{Infobox person
|name=Stephen Biko<ref name="sahistory-biko" />
|image=Steve Biko.jpg
|imagesize = 219px
|birth_date={{birth date|1946|12|18}}
|birth_place=[[King William's Town]], [[South Africa]]
|death_date={{death date and age|1977|9|12|1946|12|18}}
|death_place=[[Pretoria]], [[South Africa]]
|occupation=anti-[[history of South Africa in the apartheid era|apartheid]] [[activism|activist]]
|spouse=Ntsiki Mashalaba
|children=Nkosinathi Biko, Samora Biko, Lerato Biko, Motlatsi Biko and [[Hlumelo Biko]]<ref name="lerato" /><ref name="hlu">Daley, Suzanne. [http://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/13/magazine/the-standards-bearer.html "The Standards Bearer"], NY Times, New York, April 13, 1997.</ref>
}}
'''Stephen Biko''' (18 December 1946 &ndash; 12 September 1977)<ref name="sahistory-biko">{{cite web
|url=http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/people/bios/biko-s.htm
|title=Stephen Bantu Biko
|accessdate=2007-11-20
|year=2007
|month=September
|work=South African history on-line}}</ref> was a noted anti-[[South Africa under apartheid|apartheid]] activist in [[South Africa]] 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.<ref>{{cite news
|title=Background: Steve Biko: martyr of the anti-apartheid movement
|publisher=BBC News
|date=1997-12-08
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/37448.stm
|accessdate=2007-04-16}}</ref> 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".<ref>{{cite book
|first=Steve
|last=Biko
|title=[[I Write What I Like]]
|publisher=[[Harper & Row]]
|year=1986
|city=San Francisco
|pages=103–104}}</ref> Despite friction between the [[African National Congress]] and Biko throughout the 1970s{{Request quotation|date=September 2007}} the ANC has included Biko in the pantheon of struggle heroes, going as far as using his image for campaign posters in South Africa's first non-racial elections in 1994.<ref>See, for instance, Rian Malan's book ''My Traitor's Heart''</ref>

==Early life==
Biko was born in [[King William's Town, Eastern Cape|King William's Town]], in the [[Eastern Cape]] province of [[South Africa]]. He studied to be a doctor at the [[University of Natal]] Medical School.  Biko was a [[Xhosa people|Xhosa]]. In addition to [[Xhosa language|Xhosa]], he spoke fluent [[English language|English]] and fairly fluent [[Afrikaans]].

{{Apartheid}}He was initially involved with the multiracial [[National Union of South African Students]], but after he became convinced that Black, [[Asians in South Africa|Indian]] and [[Coloured]] students needed an organization of their own, he helped found the [[South African Students' Organisation]] (SASO), whose agenda included political self-reliance and the unification of university students in a "black consciousness."<ref name="DGC">{{Cite book
  | last = Appiah
  | first = Kwame Anthony
  | authorlink = 
  | coauthors = Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
  | title = The Dictionary of Global Culture
  | publisher = Alfred A. Knopf
  | year = 1997
  | location = New York
  | pages = 76–77
  | url = 2x
          13
  | doi = 
  | id = 
  | isbn = 039458581X}}
</ref> 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.<ref name="buffalocity">{{cite web
|url=http://www.buffalocity.gov.za/visitors/biko.stm
|title=King William's Town's hero: Steve Biko 1946 - 1977
|accessdate=2007-09-02
|publisher=Buffalo City government}}</ref> They had two children together: Nkosinathi, born in 1971, and Samora. He also had two children with [[Mamphela Ramphele|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 Biko|Hlumelo]], who was born in 1978, after Biko's death.<ref name="lerato">Mothibeli, Tefo. [http://secure.financialmail.co.za/projects06/topwomen06/wtop.htm "Mamphela Ramphele: Academic Giant and Ray of Hope"], Financial Mail, Johannesburg, July 7, 2006.</ref> Biko also had a daughter with Lorraine Tabane, named Motlatsi, born in May 1977.{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}

In 1972, Biko was expelled from the University of Natal because of his political activities<ref name="DGC" /> and he became honorary president of the [[Black People's Convention]]. He was [[ban (law)#Banned persons under Apartheid|banned]] by the apartheid regime in February 1973,<ref>"Martyr of Hope: A Personal Memoir" by Aelred Stubbs C.R., in {{cite book
|first=Steve
|last=Biko
|title=[[I Write What I Like]]
|publisher=[[Harper & Row]]
|year=2002
|city=Chicago
|pages=161}}</ref> 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.<ref name="DGC" /> 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 riots|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===
[[Image:Randdailymail.png|thumb|left|300px|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 (sometimes numbered as 6-1-9). The interrogation lasted twenty-two hours and included torture and beatings resulting in a coma.<ref name="DGC" /> 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&nbsp;km drive to [[Pretoria]] to take him to a prison with hospital facilities. However, he was nearly dead owing to the previous injuries.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_2181296,00.html
|title=Keeping Steve Biko alive was really hard but we succeded
|accessdate=2007-09-19
|last=Pillay
|first=Verashni
|date=2007-09-12
|work=News24}}</ref> 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 abraisions and that he ultimately succumbed to a brain hemorrhage from the massive injuries to the head,<ref name="DGC" /> 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.whoswhosa.co.za/Pages/profilefull.aspx?IndID=3528
|title=Mrs Helen ZILLE
|accessdate=2007-12-12
|work=Who's who
|publisher=24.com}}</ref> 

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 Europe]]. The [[Liberalism in South Africa|liberal]] white South African journalist [[Donald Woods]], a personal friend of Biko, photographed his injuries in the morgue. Woods was later forced to flee South Africa 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''.<ref>[http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=328736 SA editor's escape from apartheid, 30 years on] M & G</ref> 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.<ref>Account of homicide accusations against the police in ''The Independent (of London)''</ref> On 7 October 2003 the South African 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 [[Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa)|Truth and Reconciliation Commission]], which was created following the end of minority rule and the apartheid system, reported in 1997 that five former members of the South African 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 African (see [[Négritude]]). Biko can thus be seen as a follower of Fanon and [[Aimé Césaire]], 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]].<ref>{{cite book. in an interview for an european journalist Biko explain the social and economical reasons for his inclination to South African socialism which it was the true values of his struggle.
|first=Lindy
|last=Stiebel
|title=Still beating the drum: critical perspectives on Lewis Nkosi
|publisher=Rodopi
|year=2005
|pages=80}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
|last=Kee
|first=Alistair
|title=The rise and demise of black theology
|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd
|year=2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
|last=Heinrichs
|first=Ann
|title=Mahatma Gandhi
|publisher=Gareth Stevens
|year=2001
|page=12}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
|last=Lens
|first=Sidney
|title=Africa — awakening giant
|publisher=Putnam
|year=1963
|pages=180}}</ref>

Biko saw the struggle to restore African consciousness as having two stages, "Psychological liberation" and "Physical liberation". The [[nonviolence|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.<ref>{{cite book
|title=Companion to African philosophy
|last=Wiredu
|first=Kwasi
|coauthors=William E. Abraham, Abiola Irele, Ifeanyi A. Menkiti
|publisher=Blackwell Publishing
|year=2003}}</ref>

==Biko's relevance in the present==

In the present post-Apartheid South Africa, 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 [[SABC3's Great South Africans]].

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.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/55639
|title=Why Steve Biko wouldn't vote
|work=Andile Mngxitama
|publisher=Pambazuka News}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite book
|title=BIKO LIVES! Contesting the Legacies of Steve Biko
|last=Mngxitama
|first=Andile
|coauthors=Andile Mngxitama, Amanda Alexander, and Nigel C. Gibson
|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan
|year=2008}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.abahlali.org/node/5137
|title=A homemade politics’ Rights, democracy and social movements in South Africa
|work=Matt Birkinshaw
|publisher=Abahlali baseMjondolo}}</ref>

==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 activity center|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 London, 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.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:iLCQpfaBUlQJ:news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4552119.stm+http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/americas/4552119.stm/&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&source=www.google.com}}</ref> The Pretoria Academic Hospital was renamed the Steve Biko Academic Hospital<ref>http://www.pah.org.za/</ref> in 2008. [[Durban University of Technology]] has acknowledged Steve Biko’s contribution to South African 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==
===Literature===
*[[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)

===Theatre, film and television===
*In 1978, [[Malcolm Clarke (filmmaker)|Malcolm Clarke]]<ref>http://www.ridm.qc.ca/even.e/lundis-20050207.html</ref> recounted Biko's story in a documentary called, ''The Life and Death of Steve Biko''.
*1979 play titled [[The Biko Inquest]], written by Norman Fenton and Jon Blair. In 1985, a television adaptation of the original stage play was created, directed by [[Albert Finney]] and originally aired in the US through [[HBO]] in 1985.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086966/|title=The Biko Inquest|publisher=IMDb}}</ref>
*In 1987, [[Richard Attenborough]] directed the movie ''[[Cry Freedom]]'', a biographical drama about Biko starring [[Denzel Washington]] and [[Kevin Kline]].
*In the [[Disney]] channel movie [[The Color of Friendship (2000)|The Color of Friendship]], Biko's death is used as a plot turner in breaking the two teens apart.
*In [[Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights]], while Brian Potter is on Crimetime and is grabbed by a following interviewee he makes a reference to Biko.
* Within the Star Trek canon, the [[USS Biko]] is named in his honour.
* In the manga and anime ''[[Planetes]]'', a presumably co-lateral descendant, James Biko, is the navigator of the ''Werner von Braun'' Jupiter Explorer.

===Music===

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

*In 1978, [[Peter Hammill]] on his album:  The future Now in the song : ''A motor bike in Afrika'' was the first to mention Biko (after his death) in England.
*South African improviser, composer, and bandleader [[Johnny Dyani]] (Johnny Mbizo Dyani) recorded an album titled ''Song for Biko'', featuring a composition (written by Dyani) of the same name.
*[[Tom Paxton]] released the song, "The Death of Stephen Biko", on his 1978 album, ''Heroes''.
*[[Christy Moore]] sang a song about Biko called, "Biko Drum", which makes several reverences to the South African hero. The song was written by Wally Page.
*The [[A Tribe Called Quest]] 1993 album, ''[[Midnight Marauders]]'', includes the song, "Steve Biko (Stir It Up)." In which Biko is mentioned very briefly during the song, mostly in the 20 second chorus.  [[Phife Dawg]] raps: "I'm radical with this like the man this song is after"
*Biko is referenced in the [[Public Enemy (band)|Public Enemy]] song "Show 'Em Whatcha Got" on the album [[It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back]].
*[[Steel Pulse]] released the song, "Biko's Kindred Lament", on their 1979 album, ''Tribute to the Martyrs''.
*[[Beenie Man]]'s 1997 album, ''Many Moods of Moses'', contains a track titled "Steve Biko."
*German singer [[Patrice Bart-Williams|Patrice]] sings about Biko in the song "Jah Jah Deh Deh" off his album ''How Do You Call It?''.
*[[Dead Prez]]'s album Let's Get Free references Steve Biko in the track "I'm a African"
*[[Tapper Zukie]] released the song "Tribute To Steve Biko" on his 1978 album "Peace In The Ghetto", on the Frontline Records label.<ref>[http://www.discogs.com/release/843838 Tapper Zukie - Peace In The Ghetto<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
*[[Peter Gabriel]] tells the tale of Biko in ''[[Biko (song)|Biko]]'', on his 1980 album ''[[Peter Gabriel (III)|Peter Gabriel]]'' (alternatively known as ''Melt'', for the cover art), released in 1980. Gabriel sings: ''"You can blow out a candle / But you can't blow out a fire / Once the flames begin to catch / The wind will blow it higher"''. During the reign of [[South Africa]]'s [[apartheid]] government, Gabriel often closed his concerts with the song, encouraging the audience to sing with him. Gabriel and his band members would leave the stage one-by-one until only the drummer was left to keep the beat as the audience chanted, "Biko, oh, Biko." The drummer would soon leave but the audience would continue the chant ''a capella''. The lights would fade to black while the concert hall remained lit only by flames from audience members' lighters held high. Even in his Latin America Tour in 2009, Gabriel closed his concerts with the song. The song was used in the "Evan" episode of the 80s television hit [[Miami Vice]].  The song was also performed at [[Woodstock 1994]] and appears on the concert album of the same name.   The song has been covered by many artists, including The Flirtations, [[Joan Baez]], [[Robert Wyatt]], [[Simple Minds]], [[Manu Dibango]], [[Black 47]], [[U2]],<ref>http://www.macphisto.net/u2lyrics/Biko.html</ref> [[Ray Wilson (musician)|Ray Wilson]], and [[Paul Simon]].
*[[Dave Matthews]] wrote the song "Cry Freedom" in honour of Biko.
*[[Dirty district]] have a song based on the murder of Steve Biko, titled "Steve Biko", on their debut album, ''Pousse Au Crime et Longueurs de Temps ''.
*[[Randy Stonehill]] sings about Biko in the song "Stand Like Steel" on his 1989 album ''Return to Paradise'' (produced by Mark Heard).<ref>http://www.nifty-music.com/Stonehill/</ref><ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Stonehill</ref>
*[[Groundation]]'s song "Silver Tongue Show" references Biko.
*[[Sweet Honey in the Rock]]'s 1981 album, ''[[Good News (album)|Good News]]'', contains tracks titled "Biko" and "Chile Your Waters Run Red Through Soweto", which compares Biko's death to that of [[Chile]]an musician [[Victor Jara]] and was covered by [[Billy Bragg]] in 1992.
* Simphiwe Dana's second album is called 'the one love movement on bantu biko street'
* [[Stevie Wonder]] mentions the struggle in South Africa and Stephen Biko in a tribute concert to Bob Dylan in his song "Blowing in the Wind"
* [[Willy Porter]] mentions Biko in his song titled "The Trees Have Soul".  "Even Stephen Biko knows, the trees have soul".
* [[Johnny Clegg]] mentions Steve Biko, also [[Victoria Mxenge]] and [[Neil Aggett]] in his song, Asimbonanga, about the [[Apartheid]] and [[Nelson Mandela]].
* [[Wyclef Jean]] compares Biko's horrific events to the ones of [[Amadou Diallo]] in his tribute song name "Diallo" in the album "The Ecleftic: Two Sides of a Book".
* [[Banda Bassotti]] ''[[Figli Della Stessa Rabbia]]''
* [[Lowkey]]'s 2009 album Dear Listener references Steve Biko in the track "I Believe"
* Singer - songwriter [[Kris Kristofferson]] mentions him on the song called Mal Sacate. Kristofferson sings: They killed so many heroes / Like Zapata (presente!) and Fonseca (presente!)/and Sandino (presente!) and Guevarra (presente!)/ and Steve Biko (presente!)/ but they can never kill the human spirit in Nicaragua.
* Senegal's [[Youssou N'Dour]] mentions Steve Biko in his song New Africa
*[[Saul Williams]] mentions Biko along with other notable figures such as [[Buddha]], [[Bob Marley]], [[John Lennon]], [[Khalil Gibran]], [[Shiva]] in the song Coded Language.
*[[Vybz Kartel]] in his song Licensed to Kill: Mi wi do di time like Mandela, fi murda di whole a dem like Stephen Biko

===Paintings===

Numerous works have paid homage to Steve Biko, and keep awareness of him alive. These include:

Homage to Steve Biko—Bester, Willie. [http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/1516664019078621615bwkNRv]

Who killed Steve Biko? -- Ashton, Tony. [http://tonyashtonart.co.uk/art_gallery/other_paintings/steve_biko.html]

==See also==
*[[Civil disobedience]]
*[[Nonviolence]]
*[[Nonviolent resistance]]
*[[Martin Luther King, Jr.]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*[http://abahlali.org/files/Interview%20with%20Steve.pdf 1972 Interview with Steve Biko]
*''[[I Write What I Like]]'', by Steve Biko, [[Harper & Row]], 1986, San Francisco.
*''Steve Biko: Black Consciousness in South Africa''; ed. Millard Arnold; [[Random House]], New York. 1978.
*''Biko'', by [[Donald Woods]]; originally published by [[Paddington Press]], London and New York, 1978; later edition published by [[Henry Holt and Company|Henry Holt]], New York, 1987.
*[http://abahlali.org/node/3039 New Introduction] to ''[[I Write What I Like]]'' by [[Lewis Gordon]]
*[http://abahlali.org/files/Nigel%20Gibson%20Black%20Consciousness%201977-1987.pdf Black Consciousness: The dialectics of liberation in South Africa] by [[Nigel Gibson]]
*{{Cite journal|last=Goodwin|first=June|last2=Schiff|first2=Ben|title=Who Killed Steve Biko?: Exhuming Truth in South Africa|journal=The Nation|date=November 13, 1995|volume=261|issue=16|pages=565–568|issn=0027-8378|publisher=The Nation Company|location=New York|postscript=<!--None-->}}
*No. 46: Steve Biko by [[Hilda Bernstein]] (Victor Kamkin, 1978, ISBN 0-317-36653-X)
*Mngxitama, Andile; Andile Mngxitama, Amanda Alexander, and Nigel C. Gibson (2008). BIKO LIVES! Contesting the Legacies of Steve Biko. Palgrave Macmillan. [http://wfeet.za.net/biko_lives_contesting_the.pdf PDF]

==External links==
*[http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/history/mandela/1997/sp970912.html Address by Nelson Mandela on the 20th anniversary of Biko's death]
*[http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0912.html Young Black Leader Dies in Detention in South Africa, Raising Fears of New Unrest] By John F. Burns, special to the [[New York Times]]
*[http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9709/10/biko/index.html Testimony describes fatal beating of anti-apartheid activist], ''[[CNN]]''
*[http://diggy.ruc.dk/handle/1800/2630 Thesis on the prospects of Bikoism in today's South Africa]
*[http://www.sbf.org.za/ The Steve Biko Foundation]
*[http://stiffkitten.wordpress.com/2010/04/17/the-relevance-of-black-consciousness-today The relevance of Black Consciousness today]
*[http://sounds.bl.uk/View.aspx?item=024M-C0095X0318XX-0100V0.xml Donald Woods talks in 1987 about his friendship with Steve Biko]
*[http://abahlali.org/node/3039 New Introduction] to ''[[I Write What I Like]]'' by [[Lewis Gordon]]
*[http://abahlali.org/files/Nigel%20Gibson%20Black%20Consciousness%201977-1987.pdf Black Consciousness: The dialectics of liberation]

{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
| NAME              = Biko, Steve
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES = 
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = 
| DATE OF BIRTH     = 18 December 1946
| PLACE OF BIRTH    = [[King William's Town]], [[South Africa]]
| DATE OF DEATH     = 12 September 1977
| PLACE OF DEATH    = [[Pretoria]], [[South Africa]]
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Biko, Steve}}
[[Category:1946 births]]
[[Category:1977 deaths]]
[[Category:Murder in 1977]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Natal]]
[[Category:Anti-apartheid activists]]
[[Category:Deaths by beating]]
[[Category:Existentialists]]
[[Category:Extrajudicial killings]]
[[Category:People from the Eastern Cape]]
[[Category:People murdered in South Africa]]
[[Category:Prisoners who died in South African detention]]
[[Category:South African activists]]
[[Category:South African Christians]]
[[Category:South African murder victims]]
[[Category:South African people who died in prison custody]]
[[Category:Victims of police brutality]]
[[Category:Xhosa people]]
[[Category:1977 in South Africa]]
[[Category:South African writers]]