Black Consciousness Movement
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The Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) was a
grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...
anti-
Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...
movement that emerged in
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
in the mid-1960s out of the political vacuum created by the jailing and banning of the
African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...
and
Pan Africanist Congress The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (known as the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC)) is a South African national liberation Pan-Africanist movement that is now a political party. It was founded by an Africanist group, led by Robert Sobukwe, that ...
leadership after the
Sharpeville Massacre The Sharpeville massacre occurred on 21 March 1960 at the police station in the township of Sharpeville in the then Transvaal Province of the then Union of South Africa (today part of Gauteng). After demonstrating against pass laws, a crowd of ...
in 1960. The BCM represented a social movement for
political consciousness Following the work of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Karl Marx outlined the workings of a political consciousness. The politics of consciousness Consciousness typically refers to the idea of a being who is self-aware. It is a distinction often re ...
.
lack Consciousness'origins were deeply rooted in Christianity. In 1966, the
Anglican Church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...
under the incumbent, Archbishop
Robert Selby Taylor Robert Selby Taylor (1 March 1909 – 23 April 1995) was an Anglican bishop in the 20th century. Selby Taylor was educated at Harrow and St Catharine's College, Cambridge. Ordained in 1933, his first post was a curacy at St Olave's Church, ...
, convened a meeting which later on led to the foundation of the University Christian Movement (UCM). This was to become the vehicle for Black Consciousness.
The BCM attacked what they saw as traditional white values, especially the "condescending" values of white people of liberal opinion. They refused to engage white liberal opinion on the pros and cons of black consciousness, and emphasised the rejection of white monopoly on
truth Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth 2005 In everyday language, truth is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise correspond to it, such as beliefs ...
as a central tenet of their movement. While this philosophy at first generated disagreement amongst black anti-Apartheid activists within South Africa, it was soon adopted by most as a positive development. As a result, there emerged a greater cohesiveness and solidarity amongst black groups in general, which in turn brought black consciousness to the forefront of the anti-Apartheid struggle within South Africa. The BCM's policy of perpetually challenging the dialectic of Apartheid South Africa as a means of transforming Black thought into rejecting prevailing opinion or mythology to attain a larger comprehension brought it into direct conflict with the full force of the security apparatus of the Apartheid regime. "Black man, you are on your own" became the rallying cry as mushrooming activity committees implemented what was to become a relentless campaign of challenge to what was then referred to by the BCM as "the System". It eventually sparked a confrontation on 16 June 1976 in the Soweto uprising, when 176 people were killed mainly by the South African Security Forces, as students marched to protest the use of the
Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...
language in African schools. Unrest spread like wildfire throughout the country. Although it successfully implemented a system of comprehensive local committees to facilitate organised resistance, the BCM itself was decimated by security action taken against its leaders and social programs. By 19 June 1976, 123 key members had been banned and confined to remote rural districts. In 1977 all BCM related organisations were banned, many of its leaders arrested, and their social programs dismantled under provisions of the newly Implemented Internal Security Amendment Act. On 12 September 1977, its banned National Leader, Steve Bantu Biko died from injuries that resulted from brutal assault while in the custody of the South African Security Police.


History

The Black Consciousness Movement started to develop during the late 1960s, and was led by
Steve Biko Bantu Stephen Biko (18 December 1946 – 12 September 1977) was a South African anti-apartheid activist. Ideologically an African nationalist and African socialist, he was at the forefront of a grassroots anti-apartheid campaign known ...
,
Mamphela Ramphele Mamphela Aletta Ramphele (; born 28 December 1947) is a South African politician, an activist against apartheid, a medical doctor, an academic and businesswoman. She was a partner of anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko, with whom she had two chil ...
, and
Barney Pityana Nyameko Barney Pityana FKC GCOB (born 7 August 1945) is a human rights lawyer and theologian in South Africa. He is an exponent of Black theology. Biography Pityana was born in Uitenhage and attended the University of Fort Hare. He was on ...
. During this period, which overlapped with Apartheid, the
ANC The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...
had committed to an armed struggle through its military wing Umkhonto we Sizwe, but this small guerrilla army was neither able to seize and hold territory in
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
nor to win significant concessions through its efforts. The ANC had been banned by Apartheid leaders, and although the famed
Freedom Charter The Freedom Charter was the statement of core principles of the South African Congress Alliance, which consisted of the African National Congress (ANC) and its allies: the South African Indian Congress, the South African Congress of Democrats ...
remained in circulation in spite of attempts to censor it, for many students, the ANC had disappeared. The term Black Consciousness stems from American academic W. E. B. DuBois's evaluation of the
double consciousness Double consciousness is the internal conflict experienced by subordinated or colonized groups in an oppressive society. The term and the idea were first published in W. E. B. Du Bois's autoethnographic work, ''The Souls of Black Folk'' in 1903 ...
of black Americans, analyzing the internal conflict that black, or subordinated, people experience living in an oppressive society. Du Bois echoed
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
era black nationalist
Martin Delany Martin Robison Delany (May 6, 1812January 24, 1885) was an abolitionist, journalist, physician, soldier, and writer, and arguably the first proponent of black nationalism. Delany is credited with the Pan-African slogan of "Africa for Africans." ...
's insistence that black people take pride in their blackness as an important step in their personal liberation. This line of thought was also reflected in the
Pan-Africanist Pan-Africanism is a worldwide movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous and diaspora peoples of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the movement exte ...
,
Marcus Garvey Marcus Mosiah Garvey Sr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African ...
, as well as
Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the t ...
philosopher
Alain Locke Alain LeRoy Locke (September 13, 1885 – June 9, 1954) was an American writer, philosopher, educator, and patron of the arts. Distinguished in 1907 as the first African-American Rhodes Scholar, Locke became known as the philosophical architect ...
and in the salons of the sisters,
Paulette Paulette may refer to: *Paulette (name), French feminine given name *Paulette (tax) * Paulette Caveat - a caveat filed in 1973 by a group of Dene chiefs at the land titles office in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories to gain a legal interest in 40 ...
and
Jane Nardal Jeanne "Jane" Nardal (1900 – 1993) was a French writer, philosopher, teacher, and political commentator from Martinique. She and her sister, Paulette Nardal, are considered to have laid the theoretical and philosophical groundwork of the Négr ...
in Paris. Biko's understanding of these thinkers was further shaped through the lens of
postcolonial Postcolonialism is the critical academic study of the cultural, political and economic legacy of colonialism and imperialism, focusing on the impact of human control and exploitation of colonized people and their lands. More specifically, it is a ...
thinkers such as
Frantz Fanon Frantz Omar Fanon (, ; ; 20 July 1925 – 6 December 1961), also known as Ibrahim Frantz Fanon, was a French West Indian psychiatrist, and political philosopher from the French colony of Martinique (today a French department). His works have b ...
,
Léopold Senghor Leopold may refer to: People * Leopold (given name) * Leopold (surname) Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Leopold (''The Simpsons''), Superintendent Chalmers' assistant on ''The Simpsons'' * Leopold Bloom, the protagonist o ...
, and
Aimé Césaire Aimé Fernand David Césaire (; ; 26 June 1913 – 17 April 2008) was a French poet, author, and politician. He was "one of the founders of the Négritude movement in Francophone literature" and coined the word in French. He founded the Par ...
. Biko reflects the concern for the existential struggle of the black person as a human being, dignified and proud of his blackness, in spite of the oppression of colonialism. The aim of this global movement of black thinkers was to build black consciousness and African consciousness, which they felt had been suppressed under
colonialism Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their relig ...
. Part of the insight of the Black Consciousness Movement was in understanding that, black liberation would not only come from imagining and fighting for structural political changes, as older movements like the ANC did, but also from psychological transformation in the minds of black people themselves. This analysis suggested that to take power, black people had to believe in the value of their blackness. That is, if black people believed in democracy, but did not believe in their own value, they would not truly be committed to gaining power. Along these lines, Biko saw the struggle to build African consciousness as having two stages: "Psychological liberation" and "Physical liberation". While at times Biko embraced the non-violent tactics of
Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
and
Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
, this was not because Biko fully embraced their spiritually-based philosophies of non-violence. Rather, Biko knew that for his struggle to give rise to physical liberation, it was necessary that it exist within the political and military realities of the apartheid regime, in which the armed power of the white government outmatched that of the black majority. Therefore, Biko's non-violence may be seen more as a tactic than a personal conviction. However, along with political action, a major component of the Black Consciousness Movement was its Black Community Programs, which included the organisation of community medical clinics, aiding entrepreneurs, and holding "consciousness" classes and adult education literacy classes. Another important component of psychological liberation was to embrace blackness by insisting that black people lead movements of black liberation. This meant rejecting the fervent "
non-racialism Non-racialism, aracialism or antiracialism is a South African ideology rejecting racism and racialism while affirming liberal democratic ideals. History Non-racialism became the official state policy of South Africa after April 1994, and it is en ...
" of the ANC in favour of asking whites to understand and support, but not to take leadership in, the Black Consciousness Movement. A parallel can be seen in the United States, where student leaders of later phases of
SNCC The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC, often pronounced ) was the principal channel of student commitment in the United States to the civil rights movement during the 1960s. Emerging in 1960 from the student-led sit-ins at segreg ...
, and black nationalists such as
Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of Is ...
, rejected white participation in organisations that intended to build black power. While the ANC viewed white participation in its struggle as part of enacting the non-racial future for which it was fighting, the Black Consciousness view was that even well-intentioned white people often re-enacted the paternalism of the society in which they lived. This view held that in a profoundly racialised society, black people had to first liberate themselves and gain psychological, physical and political power for themselves before "non-racial" organisations could truly be non-racial. Biko's BCM had much in common with other left-wing African nationalist movements of the time, such as
Amílcar Cabral Amílcar Lopes da Costa Cabral (; – ) was a Bissau-Guinean and Cape Verdean agricultural engineer, pan-Africanist, intellectual, poet, theoretician, revolutionary, political organizer, nationalist and diplomat. He was one of Africa's foremo ...
's
PAIGC The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde ( pt, Partido Africano para a Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde, PAIGC) is a political party in Guinea-Bissau. Originally formed to peacefully campaign for independence from ...
and
Huey Newton Huey Percy Newton (February 17, 1942 – August 22, 1989) was an African-American revolutionary, notable as founder of the Black Panther Party. Newton crafted the Party's ten-point manifesto with Bobby Seale in 1966. Under Newton's leadership ...
's
Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, Califo ...
.


Early years: 1960–76

In the year 1959, just leading up to this period, the National Party (N.P.) established universities that were exclusively for black students. This action aligned with the Party's goal of ensuring racial segregation in all educational systems. Although the ANC and others opposed to apartheid had initially focused on non-violent campaigns, the brutality of the
Sharpeville massacre The Sharpeville massacre occurred on 21 March 1960 at the police station in the township of Sharpeville in the then Transvaal Province of the then Union of South Africa (today part of Gauteng). After demonstrating against pass laws, a crowd of ...
of 21 March 1960 caused many black people to embrace the idea of violent resistance to apartheid. However, although the ANC's armed wing started its campaign in 1962, no victory was in sight by the time that Steve Biko was a medical student in the late 1960s. This is because the organization was banned in 1960, preventing it from having a strong influence in South African politics for approximately two decades. During this same time, students of colour "marched out" of the National Union of South African Students organization which, although it was multiracial, was still "dominated" by white students. Even as the nation's leading opposition groups like the ANC proclaimed a commitment to armed struggle, their leaders had failed to organise a credible military effort. If their commitment to revolution had inspired many, the success of the white regime in squashing it had dampened the spirits of many. It was in this context that black students, Biko most notable among them, began critiquing the liberal whites with whom they worked in anti-apartheid student groups, as well as the official non-racialism of the ANC. They saw progress towards power as requiring the development of black power distinct from supposedly "non-racial groups". This new Black Consciousness Movement not only called for resistance to the policy of apartheid,
freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...
, and more rights for South African blacks who were oppressed by the white apartheid regime, but also black pride and a readiness to make blackness, rather than simple liberal democracy, the rallying point of unapologetically black organisations. Importantly, the group defined black to include other "people of color" in South Africa, most notably the large number of South Africans of
Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...
descent. In this way, the Black Consciousness Movement provided a space for the "unity of South Africa's oppressed" in a way that the students defined for themselves. The movement stirred many blacks to confront not only the legal but also the cultural and psychological realities of Apartheid, seeking "not black visibility but real black participation" in society and in political struggles. The gains this movement made were widespread across South Africa. Many black people felt a new sense of pride about being black as the movement helped to expose and critique the inferiority complex felt by many blacks at the time. The group formed Formation Schools to provide leadership seminars, and placed a great importance on decentralisation and autonomy, with no person serving as president for more than one year (although Biko was clearly the primary leader of the movement). Early leaders of the movement such as
Bennie Khoapa Bennie Khoapa was a social worker in South Africa during the 1960s and 1970s involved in the resistance to apartheid. He worked for YMCA, and was supportive of the young activists of the time, especially the young Steve Biko. Ultimately Biko and ...
,
Barney Pityana Nyameko Barney Pityana FKC GCOB (born 7 August 1945) is a human rights lawyer and theologian in South Africa. He is an exponent of Black theology. Biography Pityana was born in Uitenhage and attended the University of Fort Hare. He was on ...
, Mapetla Mohapi, and
Mamphela Ramphele Mamphela Aletta Ramphele (; born 28 December 1947) is a South African politician, an activist against apartheid, a medical doctor, an academic and businesswoman. She was a partner of anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko, with whom she had two chil ...
joined Biko in establishing the Black Community Programmes (BCP) in 1970 as self-help groups for black communities, forming out of the
South African Council of Churches The South African Council of Churches (SACC) is an interdenominational forum in South Africa. It was a prominent anti-apartheid organisation during the years of apartheid in South Africa. Its leaders have included Desmond Tutu, Beyers Naudé an ...
and the ''Christian Institute''. Their approach to development was strongly influenced by
Paulo Freire Paulo Reglus Neves Freire (19 September 1921 – 2 May 1997) was a Brazilian educator and philosopher who was a leading advocate of critical pedagogy. His influential work ''Pedagogy of the Oppressed'' is generally considered one of the foundat ...
. They also published various journals, including the ''Black Review'', ''Black Voice'', ''Black Perspective'', and ''Creativity in Development''. On top of building schools and day cares and taking part in other social projects, the BCM through the BCP was involved in the staging of the large-scale protests and workers' strikes that gripped the nation in 1972 and 1973, especially in
Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
. Indeed, in 1973 the government of South Africa began to clamp down on the movement, claiming that their ideas of black development were treasonous, and virtually the entire leadership of SASO and BCP were banned. In late August and September 1974, after holding rallies in support of the
FRELIMO FRELIMO (; from the Portuguese , ) is a democratic socialist political party in Mozambique. It is the dominant party in Mozambique and has won a majority of the seats in the Assembly of the Republic in every election since the country's firs ...
government which had taken power in
Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
, many leaders of the BCM were arrested under the Terrorism Act and the
Riotous Assemblies Act, 1956 The Riotous Assemblies Act, Act No 17 of 1956 in South Africa (taking effect 16 March) prohibited gatherings in open-air public places if the Minister of Justice considered they could endanger the public peace. Banishment was also included as a for ...
. Arrests under these laws allowed the suspension of the doctrine of
habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...
, and many of those arrested were not formally charged until the next year, resulting in the arrest of the "Pretoria Twelve" and conviction of the "SASO nine", which included Aubrey Mokoape and
Patrick Lekota Mosiuoa Gerard Patrick Lekota (born 13 August 1948) is a South African politician, who currently serves as the President and Leader of the Congress of the People since 16 December 2008. Previously as a member of the African National Congress, ...
. These were the most prominent among various public trials that gave a forum for members of the BCM to explain their philosophy and to describe the abuses that had been inflicted upon them. Far from crushing the movement, this led to its wider support among black and white South Africans.


Post-Soweto uprising: 1976–present

The Black Consciousness Movement heavily supported the protests against the policies of the apartheid regime which led to the Soweto uprising in June 1976. The protests began when it was decreed that black students be forced to learn
Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...
, and that many secondary school classes were to be taught in that language. This was another encroachment against the black population, which generally spoke indigenous languages like Zulu and
Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...
at home, and saw English as offering more prospects for mobility and economic self-sufficiency than did
Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...
. And the notion that Afrikaans was to define the national identity stood directly against the BCM principle of the development of a unique black identity. The protest began as a non-violent demonstration before police responded violently. The protest devolved into a riot. 176 people died mostly killed by the security forces eeds verification The government's efforts to suppress the growing movement led to the imprisonment of Steve Biko, who became a symbol of the struggle. Biko died in police custody on 12 September 1977. Steve Biko was a non-violent activist, even though the movement he helped start eventually took up violent resistance. White newspaper editor
Donald Woods Donald James Woods (15 December 1933 – 19 August 2001) was a South African journalist and Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist. As editor of the ''Daily Dispatch'', he was known for befriending fellow activist Steve Bik ...
supported the movement and Biko, whom he had befriended, by leaving South Africa and exposing the truth behind Biko's death at the hands of police by publishing the book ''Biko''. One month after Biko's death, on 19 October 1977, now known as "Black Wednesday" the South African government declared 19 groups associated with the Black Consciousness Movement to be illegal. Following this, many members joined more concretely political and tightly structured parties such as the ANC, which used underground cells to maintain their organisational integrity despite banning by the government. And it seemed to some that the key goals of Black Consciousness had been attained, in that black identity and psychological liberation were growing. Nonetheless, in the months following Biko's death, activists continued to hold meetings to discuss resistance. Along with members of the BCM, a new generation of activists who had been inspired by the Soweto riots and Biko's death were present, including Bishop
Desmond Tutu Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbishop ...
. Among the organisations that formed in these meetings to carry the torch of Black Consciousness was the
Azanian People's Organisation The Azanian People's Organisation (AZAPO) is a South African liberation movement and political party. The organisation's two student wings are the Azanian Students' Movement (AZASM) for high school learners and the other being for university leve ...
(AZAPO), which persists to this day. Almost immediately after the formation of AZAPO in 1978, its chairman, Ishmael Mkhabela, and secretary, Lybon Mabasa were detained under the Terrorism Act. In the following years, other groups sharing Black Consciousness principles formed, including the Congress of South African Students (COSAS), Azanian Student Organisation (AZASO) and the Port Elizabeth Black Civic Organisation (PEBCO). While many of these organisations still exist in some form, some evolved and could no longer be called parts of the Black Consciousness Movement. And as the influence of the Black Consciousness Movement itself waned, the ANC was returning to its role as the clearly leading force in the resistance to white rule. Still more former members of the Black Consciousness Movement continued to join the ANC, including
Thozamile Botha Thozamile Botha (born 16 June 1948) is a South African politician.Naki, Eric. "Shock as Botha Decides to Quit." The Daily Dispatch. 16 Oct. 1997. Web. 27 Oct. 2010. . He started his political career as a trade unionist and was an executive member ...
from PEBCO. Others formed new groups. For instance, in 1980, Pityana formed the Black Consciousness Movement of Azania (BCMA), an avowedly
Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
group which used AZAPO as its political voice.
Curtis Nkondo Curtis Nkondo (1 February 1928 – 3 December 2009) was a South African diplomat, school teacher and politician with the African National Congress. Born in Louis Trichardt, Nkondo was a lifelong activist with the ANC. He was a high school teacher ...
from AZAPO and many members of AZASO and the Black Consciousness Media Workers Association joined the United Democratic Front (UDF). Many groups published important newsletters and journals, such as the ''Kwasala'' of the Black Consciousness Media Workers and the London-based BCMA journal ''Solidarity''. And beyond these groups and media outlets, the Black Consciousness Movement had an extremely broad legacy, even as the movement itself was no longer represented by a single organisation. While the Black Consciousness Movement itself spawned an array of smaller groups, many people who came of age as activists in the Black Consciousness Movement did not join them. Instead, they joined other organisations, including the ANC, the Unity Movement, the
Pan Africanist Congress The Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (known as the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC)) is a South African national liberation Pan-Africanist movement that is now a political party. It was founded by an Africanist group, led by Robert Sobukwe, that ...
, the United Democratic Front and trade and civic unions. The most lasting legacy of the Black Consciousness Movement is as an intellectual movement. The weakness of theory in and of itself to mobilise constituencies can be seen in
AZAPO The Azanian People's Organisation (AZAPO) is a South African liberation movement and political party. The organisation's two student wings are the Azanian Students' Movement (AZASM) for high school learners and the other being for university leve ...
's inability to win significant electoral support in modern-day South Africa. But the strength of the ideas can be seen in the diffusion of Black Consciousness language and strategy into nearly every corner of black South African politics. In fact, these ideas helped make the complexity of the South African black political world, which can be so daunting to the newcomer or the casual observer, into a strength. As the government tried to act against this organisation or that one, people in many organisations shared the general ideas of the Black Consciousness Movement, and these ideas helped to organise action beyond any specific organisational agenda. If the leader of this group or that one was thrown into prison, nonetheless, more and more black South Africans agreed on the importance of black leadership and active resistance. Partly as a result, the difficult goal of unity in struggle became more and more realised through the late 1970s and 1980s. Biko and the legacy of the Black Consciousness movement helped give the resistance a culture of fearlessness. And its emphasis on individual psychological pride helped ordinary people realise they could not wait for distant leaders (who were often exiled or in prison) to liberate them. As the ANC's formal armed wing Umkhonto We Sizwe struggled to make gains, this new fearlessness became the basis of a new battle in the streets, in which larger and larger groups of ordinary and often unarmed people confronted the police and the army more and more aggressively. If the ANC could not defeat the white government's massive army with small bands of professional guerrilla fighters, it was able to eventually win power through ordinary black peoples' determination to make South Africa ungovernable by a white government. What could not be achieved by men with guns was accomplished by teenagers throwing stones. While much of this later phase of the struggle was not undertaken under the formal direction of Black Consciousness groups per se, it was certainly fuelled by the spirit of Black Consciousness. Even after the end of apartheid, Black Consciousness politics live on in community development projects and " acts of dissent" staged both to bring about change and to further develop a distinct black identity.


Controversies and criticism

A balanced analysis of the results and legacy of the Black Consciousness Movement would no doubt find a variety of perspectives. A list of research resources is listed at the end of this section including Columbia University's Project on Black Consciousness and Biko's Legacy. Criticisms of the Movement sometimes mirror similar observations of the Black Consciousness Movement in the United States. On one side, it was argued that the Movement would stagnate into black racialism, aggravate racial tensions and attract repression by the apartheid regime. Further, the objective of the Movement was to perpetuate a racial divide – apartheid for the Blacks, equivalent to that which existed under the National Party rule. Other detractors thought the Movement-based heavily on student idealism, but with little grassroots support among the masses, and few consistent links to the mass trade-union movement. Assessments of the movement note that it failed to achieve several of its key objectives. It did not bring down the apartheid regime, nor did its appeal to other non-white groups as "people of color" gain much traction. Its focus on blackness as the major organising principle was very much downplayed by Nelson Mandela and his successors who to the contrary emphasised the multi-racial balance needed for the post-apartheid nation. The community programs fostered by the movement were very small in scope and were subordinated to the demands of protest and indoctrination. Its leadership and structure was essentially liquidated, and it failed to bridge the tribal gap in any *large-scale* way, although certainly small groups and individuals collaborated across tribes. After much blood shed and property destroyed, critics charged that the Movement did nothing more than raise "awareness" of some issues, while accomplishing little in the way of sustained mass organisation, or of practical benefit for the masses. Some detractors also assert that Black consciousness ideas are out-dated, hindering the new multi-racial South Africa. According to
Pallo Jordan Zweledinga Pallo Jordan (born 22 May 1942) is a South African politician. He was a member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, and was a cabinet minister from 1994 until 2009. Early life Jordan is the son of th ...
"The great tragedy of the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) was that it was never able to gather and retain much support beyond a narrow band of African intellectuals."
Donald Woods Donald James Woods (15 December 1933 – 19 August 2001) was a South African journalist and Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist. As editor of the ''Daily Dispatch'', he was known for befriending fellow activist Steve Bik ...
, a white South African liberal, was close friends with Biko and a number of other senior figures in the BCM, but nevertheless expressed concern about what he regarded as "the unavoidably racist aspects of Black Consciousness".


Funding

The Zimele Trust Fund was a trust fund created through the
black consciousness movement The Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) was a grassroots anti-Apartheid activist movement that emerged in South Africa in the mid-1960s out of the political vacuum created by the jailing and banning of the African National Congress and Pan Afri ...
to fund black community programmes (BCP's). Many of the community programmes that were funded were located in rural areas in the
Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...
and some in
Kwa-Zulu Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...
. In May 1972, the Black Consciousness movement sponsored a church conference which aimed at creating a more "black orientated" perspective of the Christian gospel. Church organizations assisted BCPs and many BCPs assisted religious organisations to run church programmes. This resulted in a collaboration between political activists & religious leaders for the improvement of communities through a multitude of projects. The Trust Fund was officially established in 1975 by Steve Biko on order to fund these projects. The capital for many of these projects came from fundraising done by Father Aelred Stubbs through churches in Europe.The first funding opportunity was to assist newly released political prisoners and the start up costs income gathering families. This assisted in economically restabilising the families of those with "political" criminal records as many communities branded these activists as trouble makers, making it difficult for them to secure employment. The Trust fund also supported families through bursaries and scholarships for activists children as activists struggled to secure bursaries and scholarships for their children due to stigmatisation. The trust, much like the
black consciousness movement The Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) was a grassroots anti-Apartheid activist movement that emerged in South Africa in the mid-1960s out of the political vacuum created by the jailing and banning of the African National Congress and Pan Afri ...
, aimed at assisting people towards becoming self-sufficient. They presented this to the authorities as a project run by
Thenjiwe Mtintso Thenjiwe Mtintso (7 November 1950) is a South African anti-apartheid activist, politician and ambassador who has held senior positions within the African National Congress (ANC), the South African Communist Party (SACP), and is a veteran of u ...
and the Border Council of Churches. The director of the fund was South African Students Organisation (SASO) leader Mapetla Mohapi. The fund succeeded with a brick making scheme in Dimbaza close to
King William's Town Qonce, formerly known as King William's Town, is a city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa along the banks of the Buffalo River. The city is about northwest of the Indian Ocean port of East London. Qonce, with a population of around ...
. Other self-reliance projects included
Zanempilo Community Health Care Centre Zanempilo Community Health Care Centre (ZCHC), infamously known as the "Biko Clinic", was the first primary health care centre initiative outside of the public sector in South Africa. It is located in Zinyoka Village, near King William's Town in t ...
, Njwaxa Leather-Works Project and the Ginsberg Education Fund. The trust fund assisted people regardless of political affiliation.


Literature

In comparison with the Black Power movement in the United States, the Black Consciousness movement felt little need to reconstruct any sort of golden cultural heritage. African
linguistic Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
and
cultural Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human Society, societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, and habits of the ...
traditions were alive and well in the country. Short stories published predominantly in
Drum magazine A drum magazine is a type of high-capacity magazine for firearms. Cylindrical in shape (similar to a drum), drum magazines store rounds in a spiral around the center of the magazine, facing the direction of the barrel. Drum magazines are contrast ...
had led to the 1950s being called the ''Drum decade'', and future Nobel Prize winner
Nadine Gordimer Nadine Gordimer (20 November 192313 July 2014) was a South African writer and political activist. She received the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize in Literature in 1991, recognized as a writer "who through her magnificent epic writin ...
was beginning to become active. The fallout from the Sharpeville massacre led to many of those artists entering exile, but the political oppression of the resistance itself led to a new growth of black South African Literature. In the 1970s,
Staffrider ''Staffrider'' was a South African literary magazine that was published between 1978 and 1996. History and profile ''Staffrider'' was first published in March 1978. Its founder was Mike Kirkwood. The magazine took its name from slang for people h ...
magazine became the dominant forum for the publication of BC literature, mostly in the form of poetry and short stories. Book clubs, youth associations, and clandestine street-to-street exchange became popular. Various authors explored the Soweto riots in novels, including
Miriam Tlali Miriam Tlali (11 November 1933 – 24 February 2017) was a South African novelist. She was the first black woman in South Africa to publish an English-language novel, ''Between Two Worlds'', in 1975. She was also one of the first to write about S ...
, Mothobi Mutloatse and
Mbulelo Mzamane Mbulelo Vizikhungo Mzamane (28 July 1948 – 16 February 2014) was a South African author, poet, and academic. He was described by the late President Nelson Mandela as a "visionary leader and one of South Africa’s greatest intellectuals". ...
. But the most compelling force in Black Consciousness prose was the short story, now adapted to teach political morals. Mtutuzeli Matshoba famously wrote, "''Do not say to me that I am a man''." An important theme of Black Consciousness literature was the ''rediscovery of the ordinary'', which can be used to describe the work of
Njabulo Ndebele Njabulo Simakahle Ndebele (born 4 July 1948) is an academic and writer of fiction who is the former vice-chancellor and principal of the University of Cape Town (UCT). On November 16, 2012, he was inaugurated as the chancellor of the Univer ...
."Apartheid" in Doug Killam (ed.), ''The Companion to African Literatures''. Indiana University Press, 2001, pp. 29–47. However, it was in poetry that the Black Consciousness Movement first found its voice. In a sense, this was a modern update of an old tradition, since several of South Africa's African languages had long traditions of performed poetry. Sipho Sempala, Mongane Serote, and Mafika Gwala led the way, although Sempala turned to prose after Soweto. Serote wrote from exile of his internalisation of the struggles, while Gwala's work was informed and inspired by the difficulty of life in his home township of
Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It ...
near
Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
. These forerunners inspired a myriad of followers, most notably poet-performance artist Ingoapele Madingoane.
Adam Small Adam Small (21 December 1936 – 25 June 2016) was a South African writer who was involved in the Black Consciousness Movement and other activism. He was noted as a Coloured writer who wrote works in Afrikaans that dealt with racial discriminatio ...
is noted as a Coloured South African writer who was involved in the Black Consciousness Movement and wrote works in Afrikaans and English dealing with racial discrimination. James Mathews was a part of the ''Drum decade'' who was especially influential to the Black Consciousness Movement. This poem gives an idea of the frustrations that blacks felt under apartheid:
Freedom's child You have been denied too long Fill your lungs and cry rage Step forward and take your rightful place You are not going to grow up knocking at the back door....
This poem by an unknown author has a rather confrontational look:
Kaffer man, Kaffer nation Arise, arise from the kaffer Prepare yourself for war! We are about to start
Steve Biko the hero of Mandlenkosi Langa's poem: "Banned for Blackness" also calls for black resistance:
Look up, black man, quit stuttering and shuffling Look up, black man, quit whining and stooping ...raise up your black fist in anger and vengeance.
A main tenet of the Black Consciousness Movement itself was the development of black culture, and thus black literature. The cleavages in South African society were real, and the poets and writers of the BCM saw themselves as spokespersons for blacks in the country. They refused to be beholden to ''proper'' grammar and style, searching for black aesthetics and black literary values. The attempt to awaken a black cultural identity was thus inextricably tied up with the development of black literature.


''Black Review''

This paper was consisted of an analysis of political trends. It was edited by
Steve Biko Bantu Stephen Biko (18 December 1946 – 12 September 1977) was a South African anti-apartheid activist. Ideologically an African nationalist and African socialist, he was at the forefront of a grassroots anti-apartheid campaign known ...
and published in 1972. The editorial was created for the purposes of protecting the interests of black people. Members of the BCM found that there were very few publications in South Africa that were written, directed and produced by black writers. The articles were juxtaposed to the reality of black peoples lives in order to portray the broad spectrum of problems black people faced. Black Viewpoint was a literature addition to the Black Community Programmes. The editorial wrote reviews and gave feedback on the different black Community Programmes that were taking place such as the
Zanempilo Community Health Care Centre Zanempilo Community Health Care Centre (ZCHC), infamously known as the "Biko Clinic", was the first primary health care centre initiative outside of the public sector in South Africa. It is located in Zinyoka Village, near King William's Town in t ...
. ''Black Review'' was banned prior to Biko's banning.


''Black Viewpoint''

This was a compilation of essays that were written by black people for black people. The author was
Njabulo Ndebele Njabulo Simakahle Ndebele (born 4 July 1948) is an academic and writer of fiction who is the former vice-chancellor and principal of the University of Cape Town (UCT). On November 16, 2012, he was inaugurated as the chancellor of the Univer ...
and was published in 1972 by the Spros-Cas Black Community Programmes. Steve Biko wrote the introduction. It includes "Black Development Day" written by
Njabulo Ndebele Njabulo Simakahle Ndebele (born 4 July 1948) is an academic and writer of fiction who is the former vice-chancellor and principal of the University of Cape Town (UCT). On November 16, 2012, he was inaugurated as the chancellor of the Univer ...
, "New Day" written by C. M. C Ndamse, "Kwa-Zulu Development" written by Chief M. G Buthelezi and "The New Black" written by Bennie A. Khoapa. Another similar magazine publication was the Frank Talk, it was published in 1984. Several issues of the journal were banned for distribution due to government legislation however, they were later unbanned."Frank Talk"
SAHO. Accessed 14 January 2018.


Bans

People who were under South African orders were not allowed to write for publication. People were also prohibited from quoting anything that banned people said. People under banning orders were prohibited from entering various buildings such as courts, educational institutions, the offices of newspapers and other publishers offices.


Important figures

*
Steve Biko Bantu Stephen Biko (18 December 1946 – 12 September 1977) was a South African anti-apartheid activist. Ideologically an African nationalist and African socialist, he was at the forefront of a grassroots anti-apartheid campaign known ...
– founder *
Bennie Khoapa Bennie Khoapa was a social worker in South Africa during the 1960s and 1970s involved in the resistance to apartheid. He worked for YMCA, and was supportive of the young activists of the time, especially the young Steve Biko. Ultimately Biko and ...
* Mapetla Mohapi *
Strini Moodley Strinivasa Rajoo "Strini" Moodley (22 December 1945 – 27 April 2006) was a founding member of the Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa. In 1976, he was convicted of terrorism in a trial involving members of the South African Student ...
*
Malusi Mpumlwana Malusi Mpumlwana is a bishop of the Ethiopian Episcopal Church. Along with Steve Biko, he and his wife Thoko Mpumlwana were activists in the anti-apartheid Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa South Africa, officially the Republi ...
*
Thamsanga Mnyele Thamsanqa (Thami) Mnyele (10 December 1948 – 14 June 1985) was a South African artist associated with the anti-apartheid politics of the African National Congress and the Black Consciousness Movement. His artistic career took off in the 1970s ...
– artist * Rubin Phillip – cleric *
Barney Pityana Nyameko Barney Pityana FKC GCOB (born 7 August 1945) is a human rights lawyer and theologian in South Africa. He is an exponent of Black theology. Biography Pityana was born in Uitenhage and attended the University of Fort Hare. He was on ...
*
Mamphela Ramphele Mamphela Aletta Ramphele (; born 28 December 1947) is a South African politician, an activist against apartheid, a medical doctor, an academic and businesswoman. She was a partner of anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko, with whom she had two chil ...
*
Mthuli ka Shezi Mthuli ka Shezi (1947–1972Shezi's Order of Luthuli Award
from the South African ...
– playwright * Aubrey Mokoape *
Barney Simon Barney Simon (13 April 1932 – 30 June 1995, Johannesburg) was a South African writer, playwright and director. Early life The son of working-class Lithuanian Jewish immigrants, Simon discovered a love of theatre while working under director ...
– founder of The Market Theatre *
Vuyisile Mini Vuyisile Mini (8 April 1920 – 6 November 1964) was a unionist, Umkhonto we Sizwe activist, singer and one of the first African National Congress members to be executed by apartheid South Africa. Early life Mini was born in 1920 in Tsomo i ...
– activist and songwriter


Related groups

*
Azanian People's Organisation The Azanian People's Organisation (AZAPO) is a South African liberation movement and political party. The organisation's two student wings are the Azanian Students' Movement (AZASM) for high school learners and the other being for university leve ...
(AZAPO) * Black Allied Workers' Union (BAWU) *
Black People's Convention The Black People's Convention (BPC) was a national coordinating body for the Black Consciousness movement of South Africa. Envisaged as a broad-based counterpart to the South African Students' Organisation, the BPC was active in organising resis ...
* Black Community Programmes *
Négritude ''Négritude'' (from French "Nègre" and "-itude" to denote a condition that can be translated as "Blackness") is a framework of critique and literary theory, developed mainly by francophone intellectuals, writers, and politicians of the African ...
, a literary movement in francophone Africa *
Neo Black Movement of Africa Black Axe is a confraternity in Nigeria that now operates as an international criminal organization, which originated around 1977. Among many crimes it was responsible for the Obafemi Awolowo University massacre. History According to BBC Africa o ...
*
Socialist Party of Azania The Socialist Party of Azania (SOPA) was a scientific socialist political party in South Africa adhering to Black Consciousness theory. In the 2004 general elections, it received 0.1% of the vote and no legislatorial seats at either the nati ...
(SOPA) *
South African Student Organisation The South African Students' Organisation (SASO) was a body of black South African university students who resisted apartheid through non-violent political action. The organisation was formed in 1969 under the leadership of Steve Biko and Barney P ...
(SASO)


See also

*
Black-owned businesses Black-owned businesses (or Black businesses), also known as African-American businesses, originated in the days of slavery before 1865. Emancipation and civil rights permitted businessmen to operate inside the American legal structure starting in ...
*
Africana womanism "Africana womanism" is a term coined in the late 1980s by Clenora Hudson-Weems, intended as an ideology applicable to all women of African descent. It is grounded in African culture and Afrocentrism and focuses on the experiences, struggles, need ...
* Black Power *
Black Power Revolution Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have ...
* Black Surrealism *
Négritude ''Négritude'' (from French "Nègre" and "-itude" to denote a condition that can be translated as "Blackness") is a framework of critique and literary theory, developed mainly by francophone intellectuals, writers, and politicians of the African ...
*
Zanempilo Community Health Care Centre Zanempilo Community Health Care Centre (ZCHC), infamously known as the "Biko Clinic", was the first primary health care centre initiative outside of the public sector in South Africa. It is located in Zinyoka Village, near King William's Town in t ...
* Soweto Uprising * Steve Biko Foundation *
I Write What I Like ''I Write What I Like'' (full name ''I Write What I Like: Selected Writings by Steve Biko'') is a compilation of writings from anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko. ''I Write What I Like'' contains a selection of Biko's writings from 1969, whe ...
* Ginsberg, Eastern Cape


References


Further reading

* Taylor Branch, ''At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965–68'', Simon & Schuster, 2006. * Amatoritsero (Godwin) Ede, ''The Black Consciousness Movement in South African Literature''. * George M. Fredrickson (1981), ''White Supremacy: a Comparative Study of American and South African History'', Oxford University Press USA, 1995. * Gail M. Gerhart, ''Black Power in South Africa: the Evolution of an Ideology'', University of California Press, 1979. * Thomas G. Karis, Gail M. Gerhart, ''From Protest to Challenge: Nadir and Resurgence, 1964-1979, vol. 5: A Documentary History of African Politics in South Africa 1882 – 1990'', Unisa Press, 1997.


External links


The BCM in South African literature



The relevance of Black Consciousness today
2010
Black Consciousness in Dialogue: Steve Biko, Richard Turner and the ‘Durban Moment’ in South Africa, 1970 – 1974
Ian McQueen, SOAS, 2009

''
Economic and Political Weekly The ''Economic and Political Weekly'' (''EPW'') is a weekly peer-reviewed academic journal covering all social sciences, and is published by the Sameeksha Trust. In January 2018, academic Gopal Guru was named the new Editor of the journal. Guru wil ...
'', 3 June 2006. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
Columbia University research page on the BCM.

Bikoism or Mbekism? Thesis on Biko's Black Consciousness in contemporary South Africa

Black Consciousness in South Africa
by
Nigel Gibson Nigel Gibson is a British activist, a scholar specialising in philosophy and author whose work has focussed, in particular, on Frantz Fanon. Edward Said described Gibson's work as "rigorous and subtle". He has been described as a leading figure ...

New introduction to Biko's ''I Write What I Like''
by
Lewis Gordon Lewis Ricardo Gordon (born May 12, 1962) is an American philosopher at the University of Connecticut who works in the areas of Africana philosophy, existentialism, phenomenology, social and political theory, postcolonial thought, theories of ...
, 2007
Steve Biko: The Black Consciousness Movement

"No Fears Expressed: 6 Powerful Things Steve Biko Said"

"BIKO: The Quest For A True Humanity"
Apartheid Museum. {{authority control African and Black nationalism Social movements in South Africa Defunct political magazines