Biography of: Steven Bantu Biko
Author: Brad Howard
Timeline
Leadership Style
Political Philosophy
Timeline
- Born Dec 18, 1946.
- He joined the movement in 1966.
- He became president of the all black South African Students Organization and was also the co-founder of it, in 1969.
- In 1972 he became the honorary president of the Black People's Convention, a coalition of over 70 black organizations.
- Biko was detained four times in the last few years of his life for speaking out on behalf of his movement (1975-1976).
- He was beaten to death on Sept 12, 1977, while in police custody.
Leadership Style
I believe Steven Biko's leadership style was Laissez-Faire, the hands off leadership. He had a very practical style of leadership. He believed in the continual renewing of leaders and the dispersal of leaders was important in keeping the movement alive. He recognized that the "sum of the whole was richer, more useful and politically more powerful when thoroughly worked through than that of individual leadership and domination". He believed that diversity was the key and that everyone had different skills to contribute. One example of how this was achieved was that none of the South African Student Organization's presidents were in office more than a year. This way he was able to remain a less dominant figure. He always wanted to be in the background. He never proclaimed himself a leader.
Political Philosophy
The spoke of the wheel that I believe Steven Biko would be on is the one of Conservatism. The following is an excerpt from a short essay he wrote titled "Black Souls In White Skins". "We are not concerned with that curious bunch of non-conformists…that bunch of do-gooders that goes under all sorts of names-liberals, leftists, etc. These are all the people who argue that they are not responsible for white racism…These are all the people who claim that they too feel the oppression just as acutely as the blacks and therefore should be jointly involved in the black man's struggle…In short, these are the people who say that they have black souls wrapped up in white skins". I believe that this excerpt would be an "Insurgent Argument".
Biko's thought that the one-man, one-vote system could be achieved without bloodshed, when questioned about this matter, he replied. "I think, My Lord, in a government where democracy is allowed to work, one of the principles that are normally entrenched is a feedback system, a discussion in other words between those who formulate policy and those who must perceive, accept, or reject policy. In other words, there must be a system of education, political education…". I believe this to be a strong "Innovative Argument".
The following statement made by Biko shows the foundation of his movement. "Even today, we are still accused of racism. This is a mistake. We know that all interracial groups in South Africa are relationships in which whites are superior, blacks inferior. So as a prelude whites must be made to realize that they are only human, not superior. Same with blacks. They must be made to realize that they are also human, not inferior". Again, this is a "Innovative Argument". There was a dissatisfaction with the existing order and he wanted to change that.
Steven Bantu Biko was a very interesting leader to learn about. I see a lot of similarities between Biko and Dr. Martin Luther King. Things like trying to make his people understand that they have to make change happen themselves and not rely on others to make it happen. There were so many things that he was involved in, so I tried to just pick a few of the more important ones out. However, all of these fell under the idea of the Black Consciousness movement. He was one of the worlds great leaders and his messages still inspire people today.
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