Steven Biko Quotes - Page 2

Black Consciousness therefore takes cognizance of the deliberateness of God's plan in creating Black people black.

The blacks are tired of standing at the touchlines to witness a game that they should be playing. They want to do things for themselves and all by themselves.

Tradition has it that whenever a group of people has tasted the lovely fruits of wealth, security and prestige it begins to find it more comfortable to believe in the obvious lie and accept that it alone is entitled to privilege.

WOMEN must be at the forefront of nation-building to bring the South African citizenry together and, therefore, develop a whole new ethos of human co-existence

What Black Consciousness seeks to do is to produce real black people who do not regard themselves as appendages to white society. We do not need to apologise for this because it is true that the white systems have produced through the world a number of people who are not aware that they too are people.

The great powers of the world may have done wonders in giving the world an industrial and military look but the great gift still has to come from Africa - giving the world a more human face.

To a large extent the evil-doers have succeeded in producing at the output end of their machine a kind of black man who is man only in form. This is the extent to which the process of dehumanization has advanced.

If you want to say something radical, you should dress conservative.

Sure there are a few good whites just as much as there are a few bad Blacks. However what we are concerned here with is group attitudes and group politics. The exception does not make a lie or the rule - it merely substantiates it.

We believe in the inherent goodness of man.

The oneness of community for instance is at the heart of our culture.

The essence of politics is to direct oneself to the group which wields power

Apartheid - both petty and grand - is obviously evil.

We do not want to be reminded that it is we, the indigenous people, who are poor and exploited in the land of our birth. These are concepts which the Black Consciousness approach wishes to eradicate from the black man's mind before our society is driven to chaos by irresponsible people from Coca-cola and hamburger cultural backgrounds.

I think the central theme about black society is that it has got elements of a defeated society

The system concedes nothing without demand, for it formulates its very method of operation on the basis that the ignorant will learn to know, the child will grow into an adult and therefore demands will begin to be made. It gears itself to resist demands in whatever way it sees fit.

Any warning normally implies, even if it is tacit, that there should be changes

This is white man's integration, an integration based on exploitative values

Part of the approach envisaged in bringing about Black Consciousness has to be directed to the past, to seek to rewrite the history of the black man and to produce in it the heroes who form the core of the African background

Black Consciousness is in essence the realization by the black man of the need to rally together with his brothers around the cause of their oppression.

In time, we shall be in a position to bestow on South Africa the greatest possible gift - a more human face.

It becomes more necessary to see the truth as it is if you realize that the only vehicle for change are these people who have lost their personality.

The logic behind white domination is to prepare the black man for the subservient role in this country.

We believe it is the duty of the vanguard political movement which brings change to educate people's outlook

Black Consciousness is an attitude of the mind and a way of life, the most positive call to emanate from the black world for a long time.