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30th Anniversary of Steven Biko’s Death

Activist Inspired South Africans to Fight Apartheid

Steven Biko was an activist of South Africa, fighting the oppression of the apartheid government. He was the founder of the South African Students Organization and the Black Peoples Convention, and the first president of the Black Community Program.

Biko inspired so many with his dedication to win equality for black people of South Africa. With his death 30 years ago on Sept. 12, 1977, while in police custody, he became a martyr and a symbol of black resistance to the oppressive apartheid government. What follows are some of his most famous quotes that inspired and motivated many people of African descent:

Being black is not a matter of pigmentation; being black is a reflection of a mental attitude.

Black consciousness is an attitude of the mind and a way of life.

Black man, you are on your own.

The blacks are tired of standing at the touchlines to witness a game that they should be playing.

The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.

You are either alive and proud or you are dead, and when you are dead, you can’t care anyway.