Steel Pulse - Tribute To The Martyrs - Biko's Kindred Lament

In memory of a legend. Stephen Biko.

Biko and Black Consciousness
In 1972 Biko was one of the founders of the Black Peoples Convention (BPC) working on social upliftment projects around Durban. The BPC effectively brought together roughly 70 different black consciousness groups and associations, such as the South African Student's Movement (SASM), which played a significant role in the 1976 uprisings, the National Association of Youth Organisations, and the Black Workers Project which supported black workers whose unions were not recognized under the Apartheid regime. Biko was elected as the first president of the BPC and was promptly expelled from medical school. He started working full time for the Black Community Programme (BCP) in Durban which he also helped found.

Banned by the Apartheid Regime
In 1973 Steve Biko was 'banned' by the Apartheid government. Under the 'ban' Biko was restricted to his home town of Kings William's Town in the Eastern Cape he could no longer support the BCP in Durban, but was able to continue working for the BPC he helped set up the Zimele Trust Fund which assisted political prisoners and their families. (Biko was elected Honorary President of the BPC in January 1977.)

Biko Dies in Detention
Biko was detained and interrogated four times between August 1975 and September 1977 under Apartheid era anti-terrorism legislation. On 21 August 1977 Biko was detained by the Eastern Cape security police and held in Port Elizabeth. From the Walmer police cells he was taken for interrogation at the security police headquarters. On 7 September "Biko sustained a head injury during interrogation, after which he acted strangely and was uncooperative. The doctors who examined him (naked, lying on a mat and manacled to a metal grille) initially disregarded overt signs of neurological injury."1

By 11 September Biko had slipped into a continual, semi-conscious state and the police physician recommended a transfer to hospital. Biko was, however, transported 1,200 km to Pretoria a 12-hour journey which he made lying naked in the back of a Land Rover. A few hours later, on 12 September, alone and still naked, lying on the floor of a cell in the Pretoria Central Prison, Biko died from brain damage.

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[moh94ivry]

top groupe reggae de tous les temps

[phazefour]

Most Lethal

[jellybeaner18]

One of the BEST of reggae. R.I.P. Biko

[Vecho9]

Hommage a Steve Biko le jour de son assassinat par des forces obscurantistes.

Vive les Martyrs africains...

[jhosimarful]

BIko live gerra contra los malditos blancos los acabareeeeeeee. FILIPOLLAS CABRONES