South African - Activist | December 18, 1946 - September 12, 1977
The most potent weapon of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.
Steven Biko
MindOppressorOppressedMostPotent
A people without a positive history is like a vehicle without an engine.
PositiveHistoryPeopleWithoutLike
If one is free at heart, no man-made chains can bind one to servitude, but if one's mind is so manipulated and controlled by the oppressor, then there will be nothing the oppressed can do to scare his powerful masters.
HeartMindFreePowerfulNothing
The revolutionary sees his task as liberation not only of the oppressed but also of the oppressor. Happiness can never truly exist in a state of tension.
HappinessOppressorNeverTaskExist
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.
AloneLiePeopleBelieveSecurity
The fact that apartheid has been tied up with white supremacy, capitalist exploitation, and deliberate oppression makes the problem much more complex. Material want is bad enough, but coupled with spiritual poverty, it kills.
SpiritualProblemEnoughPovertyBad
In a bid for change, we have to take off our coats, be prepared to lose our comfort and security, our jobs and positions of prestige, and our families... A struggle without casualties is no struggle.
ChangeStruggleLoseSecurityTake
Apartheid - both petty and grand - is obviously evil. Nothing can justify the arrogant assumption that a clique of foreigners has the right to decide on the lives of a majority.
EvilNothingPettyRightDecide
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.
LifeCommunityCultureReligion
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.
YourselfFightRoadBlackYouOut
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.
FreedomManTiredGameBlackWant
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.
ManValueBlackCountryDignityHim
Copyright © 2024 QuotesDict Steven Biko quotes