Steve Biko – South Africa (my Azania) 25 years later

 

Whilst preparing for this memorial lecture, I pondered briefly why the name and image of Steve Biko evoke such powerful emotions, that year after year, the commemoration of his life and death causes the nation to pause, sadly and thoughtfully. Mandela said over this last weekend - “may we never cease celebrating his life”.

 

And I continue to ponder this phenomenon – does Steve Biko touch the conscience of those who so energetically acclaim him once a year, and then continue to ignore the very obvious possibilities for human sustainability as represented by Steve’s life, and his generation’s philosophy and example? But I do not ponder too long – my own learning has convinced me that though it is important to reclaim the past and celebrate one’s heritage, we cannot remain prisoners of history. We should not seek there for the meaning of our destiny. We should constantly remind ourselves that the real leap consists in introducing invention into existence.

 

Which then brings me to the objective of this lecture. Chinua Achebe is quoted as saying yesterday: “I don’t know whether anyone of you know what Steve Biko and the black consciousness movement meant for the people of Africa. It was a metaphysical thing. If I had been able to walk, I would have kissed the ground when I disembarked at Johannesburg airport.” Chinua Achebe is a poet and artist, a member of that very sensitive and creative layer of society that says it all before anyone else. I am certainly not an academic or intellectual, and I have regarded myself at best as a mechanic for the people – I know and understand the business of building the capacity of the oppressed; for the sole purpose of transforming and improving society through participation, action and reflection.

 

I do not intend lamenting Steve Biko’s death, as any unresolved sadness is either both phoney and pretentious, or else probably reflects our own inability to be compassionate also to ourselves. This latter phenomenon is necessarily a prerequisite for the transmission of love, dialogue, hope, humility and compassion – or stated otherwise, the need of the oppressed to see themselves as being engaged in the ontological and historical vocation of becoming more human. So, not talking about Steve’s death, then leaves me with his life – and what about his life? Do I like others try to bury Steve even deeper into a past that should be regarded as over and concluded – a fearful reaction, in my opinion, of those who are threatened by the mirror of Steve’s life. The mirror of Steve’s life only reflects yourself, and the question mark that Steve places on every assumption you have chosen for your own existence and purpose, whether it is narrow self-interest, egotistical motives or downright mercenary exploitation of a situation that favours thieves and robbers.

 

Steve Biko’s life and example demonstrates the achievement, for the first time in the Azanian liberation struggle, of the integration of all aspects of human existence in a single, holistic struggle for emancipation and liberation.

 

The theme of black solidarity was one important element in the reconstitution of the black psyche. In the climate of the repressive and fearful atmosphere of the 60’s and 70’s, the BC adherents developed a counter hegemony to the hegemony of the discourse of the dominant, including the myth of race and colour. Or more simply how resistance to oppression can move from its everyday and ineffectual forms at that stage, into a social force capable of transforming the system. Building on a history of rich resistance culture, this was further developed in the course of struggle, in its coherence and critical awareness and thus constituted for itself a counter-hegemony. This process of change involves as a necessary stage the “imagining of the impossible” beyond the immediate situation and working out critically how the “impossible” can be made “possible”. It was necessary to constitute ourselves as an alternative collective subject willing to move beyond the political threshold dividing the hidden transcript from the public transcript. Sometimes this movement of resistance into the public transcript takes place suddenly and spontaneously. At other times it is the consequence of establishing a new system of counter organisations, practices and ideas as with the BC movement and the 1976 uprisings and then later, with the UDF and the popular revolt of the mid-1980’s. There is no single model that describes the movement from the hidden to the public transcript; yet the history of resistance is the movement between these two spheres. (Hegomony & Resistance by Thiven Reddy)

 

So in one sense one can understand the contention by some that black consciousness had served its useful shelf life – it is conceded that it had a role then. The history of resistance is about the constant re-organisation that takes place in ways that enhances the struggle to control the center of the terrain of political struggle. What was useful and unique of the BC and subsequent periods is the extent to which the resistance succeeds to mobilize all the resources at its disposal – counter narratives, organic intellectuals and the resources of sympathetic institutions of civil society like the church and universities, against an organised repressive state.

 

But beyond this cursory and a typical manner of evaluation and comparison, we need to also locate BC in a wider and probably universal context. But let’s start off by understanding its homegrown dimension, and then move beyond.

 

The black consciousness movement of South Africa (my Azania), was established during the late ‘60’s and was in the first instance a natural result of and response to the existential position of an emergent black student leadership in South African (my Azanian) society. It certainly represented a spread of influences from its home base, as represented by the non-collaborationist position of the Unity Movement, the Africanist position of the PAC, and the nationalism of the ANC. This was in addition to whatever influences were the result of developments across the world at the time, including the militant Black Power movement of the USA.

 

In Africa, during this time, political consciousness was at an all time high, with independence from colonial domination having been achieved in many countries, and wars of liberation being fought in various others, especially Southern African states like Mozambique, Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

 

BC in South Africa therefore slotted into the slipstream of black thought, -developments and -writings as represented by the history and unfolding experience of black liberation in South Africa, continental Africa and elsewhere in the world.

 

In a global context however, BC was indeed part of a world-wide movement during the ‘60’s and ‘70’s, led by youth, that confronted, activated and protested against, ruling elites and various unacceptable or immoral government and political structures and programmes. This agitation and movement of youth during this era had a tremendous impact particularly in relation to existing imperialist patterns of domination and exploitation in the “third world” (third world being a bastardised description for what in fact is the first world). In the USA this resulted in the anti-Vietnam War protest movement, as well as the Black Power Movement with militants like Kwame Ture (Stokeley Carmichael) and Malcolm X. In France it was the youth that was in the forefront of agitation in support of Algerian independence. In Africa, various young leaders like Cabral, Lumumba and Biko formed radical movements to confront colonialism. We should note that most of these young radical leaders who had the potential to build successful opposition and confrontation, were eliminated, across the world. This is no co-incidence – the tentacles of imperialism are everywhere.

 

All of this represented an uprising, a confrontation of the status quo, an international awareness and solidarity against oppressive and exploitative practices and systems. Paulo Freire stated that: “The current movements of rebellion, especially those of youth ……. manifest a preoccupation with man and men as beings in the world and with the world. As they propose the transformation of reality itself, attack old orders and establish institutions in the attempt to affirm men as the subjects of decision, all these movements reflect the style of our age, which is more anthropological than anthropocentric”.

 

The theme of black solidarity then was carried through to its logical conclusion. Serious attempts were made and a process started that envisioned the unification of the liberation movement – viewed by some as an indication of the idealism and reactionary nature of BC. Steve Biko’s life was taken, unimaginably brutally, on the altar of unification.

 

Conscientisation, which is a further and complimentary theme, through a genuinely liberating education was the silver thread through the works of Paulo Freire and others, and taken up with a vigour by BC in South Africa (my Azania). “The awakening of critical consciousness leads the way to the expression of discontents precisely because these discontents are real components of an oppressive situation”.

 

According to Freire, radicalisation, nourished by a critical spirit, is always creative. It involves increased commitment to the position one has chosen, and thus ever greater engagement in the effort to transform concrete, objective reality. “In order for this liberation struggle to have meaning, the oppressed must not, in seeking to regain their humanity, become in turn oppressors of the oppressors, but rather restorers of the humanity of both. This, then, is the task of the oppressed: to liberate themselves and their oppressors as well”.

 

However, the greatest determinant factor for the rise of black consciousness in South Africa, in my view, was the social position of black students at universities and colleges during this time. Prior to this, the political leadership of blacks eminated largely from a traditional and elite strata in the community. This included mainly the sons (and in a very limited way – the daughters) of the chiefs (hereditary leaders) – an African elite that was patronised or subjugated into submission by the various ruling white systems, and therefore privileged to go to universities here and abroad. The other leaders during these prior times, emanated from the professional, artisanal and merchant classes, these latter mostly from the Indian and coloured communities. Political struggle in South African until the emergence of BC, always reflected the prescriptions of this elite – from the earliest politics of appeal of the ANC (more commonly known as petitioning – to the Crown - at the time), to the more radical theories of other leftist streams. Mass struggle or action, prior to the ‘50’s, was not considered a justifiable option then.

We need also to understand some of the other unique features of the BC movement that properly understood, constituted some of the potentially most revolutionary features. This probably provides a glimpse of the possibilities for resolving some of the current contradictions in our society as well as the continued perpetuation of poverty and lack of capacity of the majority of black people.

 

The “Black Consciousness is an attitude of mind and a way of life”- theme takes us further into the various aspects of human existence are integrated into a holistic stream of incremental liberation through action and reflection. No area of the black experience was left untouched and unorganised – whether the arts, writing, music, voluntary and cooperative endeavour, education or history. The ideas that were propagated were based as I said before on developing a critical awareness and understanding of the self, of the community, and of the world, through dialogue or critical reflection. The conviction of the poor and oppressed that they must fight for their liberation is not a gift bestowed by the revolutionary leadership, but the result of their own conscientization.  Leaders must realise that their own conviction of the need for struggle (which in turn arises from revolutionary wisdom) was not given to them by anyone else – if it is authentic. This conviction cannot be packaged and sold; it is reached by the totality of reflection and action. In any event, only the leaders’ own involvement in reality, within a historical situation, led them to criticise this situation and to wish to change it.

 

Likewise, the oppressed (who do not commit themselves unless they are convinced) must reach this conviction as subjects, not as objects. They also must intervene critically in the situation, which surrounds them and marks them: propaganda cannot achieve this. To substitute monologue, slogans and communiqués for dialogue is to try and liberate the oppressed with the instruments of domestication. Attempting to liberate the oppressed without their reflective participation in the act of liberation is to treat them as objects which must be saved from a burning building; it is to lead them into the populist pitfalls and transform them into masses which can be manipulated.

 

The insistence that the oppressed engage in reflection on their concrete situation is not a call to armchair revolution. On the contrary, reflection – true reflection – leads to action. To achieve this authentic critical reflectiveness, it is necessary to trust in the oppressed and in their ability to reason. Whoever lacks this trust will fail to bring about (or will abandon) dialogue, reflection and communication, and will fall into using slogans, communiqués, monologues and instructions. Superficial conversions to the cause of liberation carry this danger.

 

This attitude of mind and way of life then gives us a sense of the authenticity and confidence that Steve Biko and the BC movement had in the people. The impact of some of the methodologies that were tentatively started and experimented with at the time, can only be understood with the benefit of hindsight – every aspect of integrated development thinking in South Africa (my Azania) today, has its roots in BC thinking and experimentation with new concepts, at that time. Even when it seems today that there is a confluence and cooperation shared by whites and blacks, the agenda’s are fundamentally different. Blacks wish, and indeed must, try to incrementally develop their capacity to control their destiny – to liberate themselves and their oppressors. For whites, in most instances, the issue of upliftment of the people has more to do with an expression of generosity – a false generosity of which an unjust social order is the permanent font, and which is nourished by death, despair and poverty. This should dispense with the notion that there can be any correlation between the interests of corporate South Africa (my Azania) and the multi-nationals. True generosity consists precisely in fighting to destroy the causes, which nourish false charity. False generosity constrains the fearful and subdues, the rejects of life; to extend their trembling hands. Real generosity lies in striving so that these hands – whether of individuals or entire peoples – need be extended less and less in supplication, so that more and more they become human hands which work and, by working, transform the world.

 

A contemporary example will illustrate this understanding. Soon after Steve’s death a community project was started (in the BCP tradition) in King Williams Town, in his memory – the Zingisa Trust, in a few short years, this grew into a national network of community development organisations now called the Trust for Community Outreach and Education. There are similar examples around the country – TCOE however, is celebrating its 21^st anniversary next year. There is not a single NGO today that can boast a 21-year track record. TCOE is a leader in the development of people’s centered participatory action and research methodologies, and self-reliance - another central and integrated theme of BC. TCOE, one of the founders of SANGOCO is also set to become a leader in measuring impacts, quantitative as well as qualitative, of community mobilisation and capacity building. One of its affiliates Masifundise of Cape Town organised the recent International Fisher People’s Forum alongside the World Summit on Sustainable Development. As you are aware the world summit was a necessary but seemingly futile exercise to reconcile two incompatible worlds – the world of resources and the world of poverty.

 

A final example (which is a microscopic one) may illustrate the apparent incompatibility between the white world and agenda in South Africa (my Azania) and the black world and agenda. I became the MD of a multi-disciplinary professional services group, on the 1^st March this year. The Tshukudu Group of companies is an empowerment initiative. One of its founders is a dear, friendly and generous white man who believed that the single most motivating force for entrepreneurial endeavour is self-interest. After I became the “boss” in March I struggled to find acceptable words to indicate to my dear, friendly partner, that unbridled self-interest (or simply greed) is an unsustainable, opportunistic, incompetent and self-destructive force – I eventually persuaded every stakeholder to accept that self-interest plus discipline (new rules) may be a basis for successful cooperation. This was based on my reading of an article written by Margaret Wheatley, an innovative American who “discovered” that when individuals from whatever background come together around a common interest, the stage is set for enormous creative and satisfying possibilities (you know how white people discover old wisdoms, appropriate it, copyright it, and then call it a discovery – this is how we came to lose our land as well). Anyway, Wheatley’s model, is based on the unconditional acceptance of each party of the others and the discipline not to apply any previous assumptions and conditions, except that through working together all agree to construct the new rules, and that each party must tell its story – who are you, where do you come from, what are your experiences. The long and short of this illustration is that our dear, friendly white partner, was unable to make the mental leap into humility, acted inappropriately and without any sense of remorse – we achieved his rapid exit through a formal process. We are still licking our wounds, but it feels much better that we are properly in charge.

 

It is my contention that South Africa (my Azania) experiences a terrible pang of angst every year, when we are reminded on the 12^th September that Steve is not dead – as an ancestor, he is just smarter. He can see more, better able to remind us about ourselves, and for the brave, he awards a mirror instead of a university degree. He remains the best champion for the cause of human sustainability.

 

Steve Biko’s life and example demonstrates the achievement, for the first time in the Azanian liberation struggle, of the integration of all aspects of human existence in a single, holistic struggle for emancipation and liberation.

 

In conclusion therefore, the practitioners of the ethos and discipline of self-reliance, action and reflection, and building the capacity of the people need not concern themselves about the merit or demerit of their work – authenticity needs no further endorsement.

Peter Jones

12^th September 2002

© Azanian People’s Organisation 2002.