Steve Biko
1946 – 1977 South African Anti-apartheid activist, founder of Black Consciousness
Founder of Black Consciousness, killed in police custody.
- Affiliations
- South African Students' Organisation (SASO), Black Consciousness Movement
Steve Biko led the Black Consciousness Movement, which urged Black South Africans to assert their own dignity and reject the psychology of apartheid. Banned and harassed by the state, he became a powerful symbol of resistance among young activists. He was beaten and died in police custody in 1977, and the official cover-up of his death drew international condemnation.
In the timeline
- 1977 Steve Biko killed in police custody central figure
- 1977 Steve Biko dies in police custody central figure
- 1977 United Nations imposes mandatory arms embargo mentioned