Commemorating Steve Biko

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The 12th of September 2015 marks the 38th anniversary of the death of struggle icon, Steve Biko. The 12th of September will never be forgotten because news agencies make it a point to publicise his death each and every year. Biko was one of the men who was bruised, tortured and killed by the apartheid government. The way that he died was inhumane as he was transported in a bakkie from the Eastern Cape to Gauteng with injuries, then he later died, and each broadcast about his death, reminds us of this.

There is nothing wrong with being reminded of those that fought for black consciousness but there is everything wrong when we’re reminded of the crimes of the white man and not the successes of the black man. Yes, the apartheid government was brutal and merciless. It is also guilty of many inexcusable crimes. Year after year during public holidays like Human Right’s Day, Freedom Day, etc; documentaries surrounding how the black man was treated are put on repeat by various broadcasting corporations. The annual repetition of the injustices against the black man only fuels hate towards the oppressor and compassion for the oppressed. It also creates further divisions between black and white.

The black man is suffering from a serious identity crisis. Apart from self-educating there is very little substantial information broadcasted about his identity. Biko wrote a powerful book that is focused on black consciousness. The real crime and injustice is that year after year none of the TV stations bother to tell us what’s written in his book. “Steve Biko stood up for Africans” is what one of the interviewed politicians said.

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There is nothing as crushing as hearing someone say that they feel like the colour of their skin is a burden whenever they are at school. This is a clear indication that this person knows nothing about who they are. There are a lot of black heroes and heroines all over the world that have contributed so much to science, music, the arts, laws, agriculture, etc. A person is fortunate to even hear about one of the great black people on Facebook, Youtube or by reading a textbook.

What is even more crushing is when the leadership of the country does nothing to educate the black man about who he is and sides with perpetrators of racism, yet the same leadership uses the crimes of the apartheid government to emotionally blackmail citizens to keep them in power.

When will we wake up?