"The most powerful weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed," but the saddening part, which is the mos potent, is that the idealss that Biko stood, lived, and even died for and which most young people appreciate so much, are not lived up to by today's leadership and youth. The ideals Biko stood for have turned into another form of sloganeering, as we remember them only twice a year, on his birthday and on the 12th of September, the day he passed away.
It saddens me because of all of us, we say, how much we love his books and ideals but we do not propagate them. Biko believed that a united force would always conquer, no matter what; that it can make South Africa a progressive country for us all.
"Biko was persecuted as a leading exponent of Black Consciousness, the mixture of ideas and action which emerged in the early 1970's with the aim of uniting black people to oppose apartheid and white supremacy. "Thus the first aim of Black Consciousness was to conquer feel black inferiority, to inculcate black pride. Black Consciousness was declared of life, an attitude of mind, with the basic tenet 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. - sahistory Liberation of the black man begins first with liberation from psychological oppression by himself through an inferiority complex'. - Steve Biko
But how will it happen when we see black-on-black violence everyday? However, crime affects every South African, despite the colours in a 'rainbow nation' #RedOctober, pardon the pun. When are we going to do everything in our power to empower one another in this beautiful diversified country? When we forget the root-native-mantra of this country; that 'Umuntu ngu muntu nga-bantu' [in Zulu] or 'mothokemothokabatho' [Se-sotho] - which means (you get you get your humaneness from interacting with others). When we no longer show the spirit of Ubuntu.
Comments
Post a Comment