Steven Biko Quotes & Sayings

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. — Steven Biko

We are experiencing new problems every day and whatever we do adds to the richness of our cultural heritage as long as it has man as its centre — Steven Biko

When you say 'Black is beautiful' you are saying, 'Man you are okay as you are, begin to look upon yourself as a human being'. — Steven Biko

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

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 — Steven Biko

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. — Steven Biko

If one is free at heart, no man-made chains can bind one to servitude. — Steven Biko

Black man, you are on your own. — Steven Biko

I'm going to be me as I am, and you can beat me or jail me or even kill me, but I'm not going to be what you want me to be. — Steven Biko

The wealth of the country must eventually be enjoyed by people of the country — Steven Biko

You are either alive and proud or you are dead, and when you are dead, you can't care anyway. — Steven Biko

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. — Steven Biko

We must realise that prophetic cry of black students: Black man you are on your own! — Steven Biko

A community is easily divide when their perception of the same thing is different — Steven Biko

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

Being black is not a matter of pigmentation - being black is a reflection of a mental attitude. — Steven Biko

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. — Steven Biko

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

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. — Steven Biko

Black Consciousness seeks to infuse the black community with a new-found pride in themselves, their efforts, their value systems, their culture, their religion and their outlook to life. — Steven Biko

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

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

The basic tenet of black consciousness is that the black man must reject all value systems that seek to make him a foreigner in the country of his birth and reduce his basic human dignity. — Steven Biko

In all fields black consciousness seeks to talk to the black man in a language that is his own — Steven Biko

Merely by describing yourself as black you have started on a road towards emancipation, you have committed yourself to fight against all forces that seek to use your blackness as a stamp that marks you out as a subservient being. — Steven Biko

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

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

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. — Steven Biko

Change the way people think and things will never be the same — Steven Biko

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

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. — Steven Biko

I am against the fact that a settler minority should impose an entire system of values on an indigenous people. — Steven Biko

The black man has become a shell, a shadow of man, completely defeated, drowning in his own misery, a slave, an ox bearing the yoke of oppression with sheepish timidity. — Steven Biko

A people without a positive history is like a vehicle without an engine. — Steven Biko

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. — Steven Biko

Apartheid - both petty and grand - is obviously evil — Steven Biko

We regard our living together not as an unfortunate mishap warranting endless competition among us but as a deliberate act of God to make us a community of brothers and sisters jointly involved in the quest for a composite answer to the varied problems of life. Hence in all we do we always place man first and hence all our action is usually joint community oriented action rather than the individualism.. — Steven Biko

We have set out on a quest for true humanity, and somewhere on the distant horizon we can see the glittering prize. Let us march forth with courage and determination, drawing strength from our common plight and our brotherhood [and sisterhood]. In time we shall be in a position to bestow upon South Africa the greatest gift possible
a more human face — Steven Biko

The power of a movement lies in the fact that it can indeed change the habits of people. This change is not the result of force but of dedication, of moral persuasion. — Steven Biko

A Black man should be more independent and depend on himself for his freedom and not to take it for granted that someone would lead him to it. 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. — Steven Biko

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

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

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 — Steven Biko

The myth of integration as propounded under the banner of the liberal ideology must be cracked because it makes people believe that something is being achieved when in reality the artificially integrated circles are a soporfic to the blacks while salving the consciences of the few guilt-stricken whites. — Steven Biko

We believe in the inherent goodness of man. — Steven Biko