The Black Consciousness Movement
During the 1960s the South African government responded to civil society protest with brutal
suppression. After the Sharpeville Massacre in 1961, a state of emergency followed. Umkhonto
we Sizwe members and other leaders were imprisoned in 1963. The Apartheid government
tightened its laws & security and banned the ANC & PAC forcing its leaders (political activists)
into exile. Thus, the mid '60s through to the '70s would prove to be the Golden Age of Apartheid.
A leadership vacuum existed and there were few effective leaders to lead the resistance
movement against Apartheid.Leadership started to emerge from university students who
studied the ideas of Pan Africanism (Du Bois and Garvey) and also influenced by the Black
Power Movement of the 1960s in the USA.
Black people wanted to take their future in their own hands & not depend on white liberals to
fight their battles. They believed white people should fight against white racism & leave black
liberation to blacks. Furthermore they rejected the term non-white and preferred black (wanted
to define their identity for themselves) and emmphasized the fact that racism caused
psychological damage & feelings of inferiority. The ideas of Black Consciousness wanted to
regain pride & humanity. Black people must celebrate their identity & culture. Black people
must be self-reliant & create their own destiny. Steve Biko (the thought leader of the movement)
argued that it was because of white liberals that blacks had grown dependent on whites, and for
years the white liberal had been the spokesperson of black demands. These paternalistic
attitudes of liberals undermined black people's independence and belief in themselves.
Biko and other black intellectuals were opposed to NUSAS (National Union of SA Students) as
white students dominated (paternal) the NUSAS leadership and protests. Therefore, they
created SASO (South African Students Organisation) in 1969 under the leadership of Biko and
he became a leading figure within the BCM. SASO wanted to put into effect programmes that
would emphasize black self-reliance and became popular on the campuses of the ethnically
separated universities. They aimed to meet the needs of black students / act as a collective/
solve some of their problems and make black students acceptable on their own terms as part of
SA. Furthermore they wanted to ensure black students were treated with dignity and the respect
they deserve. The July 1971 SASO's Policy Manifesto stated:"BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS" is an
attitude of mind, a way of life: The basic tenet of Black Consciousness is that the Blackman must
reject all value systems that seek to make him a foreigner in the country of his birth and reduce
his basic dignity: The Blackman must build up his own value systems, see himself as self-defined
and not as defined by others.
As a result of BC ideologies the Black People's Convention (1972) was established.It Linked all
black educational, cultural & religious institutions. Established clinics, crèches & literacy
programmes. In the 1970s the BCM encouraged the revival of trade unionism & worker
militancy that became dormant in the 1960. BPC projects included the establishment of self-
help clinics and community centers. The BPC raised their own money & trained their own staff.
Crafts & trades were taught at the community centres & once people were trained they could
earn an independent living. Zanempilo Community Health Clinic, situated near King Williams
During the 1960s the South African government responded to civil society protest with brutal
suppression. After the Sharpeville Massacre in 1961, a state of emergency followed. Umkhonto
we Sizwe members and other leaders were imprisoned in 1963. The Apartheid government
tightened its laws & security and banned the ANC & PAC forcing its leaders (political activists)
into exile. Thus, the mid '60s through to the '70s would prove to be the Golden Age of Apartheid.
A leadership vacuum existed and there were few effective leaders to lead the resistance
movement against Apartheid.Leadership started to emerge from university students who
studied the ideas of Pan Africanism (Du Bois and Garvey) and also influenced by the Black
Power Movement of the 1960s in the USA.
Black people wanted to take their future in their own hands & not depend on white liberals to
fight their battles. They believed white people should fight against white racism & leave black
liberation to blacks. Furthermore they rejected the term non-white and preferred black (wanted
to define their identity for themselves) and emmphasized the fact that racism caused
psychological damage & feelings of inferiority. The ideas of Black Consciousness wanted to
regain pride & humanity. Black people must celebrate their identity & culture. Black people
must be self-reliant & create their own destiny. Steve Biko (the thought leader of the movement)
argued that it was because of white liberals that blacks had grown dependent on whites, and for
years the white liberal had been the spokesperson of black demands. These paternalistic
attitudes of liberals undermined black people's independence and belief in themselves.
Biko and other black intellectuals were opposed to NUSAS (National Union of SA Students) as
white students dominated (paternal) the NUSAS leadership and protests. Therefore, they
created SASO (South African Students Organisation) in 1969 under the leadership of Biko and
he became a leading figure within the BCM. SASO wanted to put into effect programmes that
would emphasize black self-reliance and became popular on the campuses of the ethnically
separated universities. They aimed to meet the needs of black students / act as a collective/
solve some of their problems and make black students acceptable on their own terms as part of
SA. Furthermore they wanted to ensure black students were treated with dignity and the respect
they deserve. The July 1971 SASO's Policy Manifesto stated:"BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS" is an
attitude of mind, a way of life: The basic tenet of Black Consciousness is that the Blackman must
reject all value systems that seek to make him a foreigner in the country of his birth and reduce
his basic dignity: The Blackman must build up his own value systems, see himself as self-defined
and not as defined by others.
As a result of BC ideologies the Black People's Convention (1972) was established.It Linked all
black educational, cultural & religious institutions. Established clinics, crèches & literacy
programmes. In the 1970s the BCM encouraged the revival of trade unionism & worker
militancy that became dormant in the 1960. BPC projects included the establishment of self-
help clinics and community centers. The BPC raised their own money & trained their own staff.
Crafts & trades were taught at the community centres & once people were trained they could
earn an independent living. Zanempilo Community Health Clinic, situated near King Williams
