October 19 1977, a number of newspapers and Black Consciousness organisations, including the South African Student Organization (SASO) were banned in South Africa. The historic moment was commemorated this week on 19 October through the launch of a book, 'Black Man, You Are On your Own', written by Rhodes University Vice-Chancellor, Dr Saleem Badat.
It was also significant that the book project which in part celebrates the life and work of Bantu Stephen Biko, one of the founders of SASO and its first president, was spearheaded by Nkosinathi Biko, Biko’s son and CEO of the Steve Biko Foundation. At the launch of book which took place at Rhodes University, Nkosinathi explained why it was important that books and scholarly work on Black Consciousness should be written and done, and why academics such as Dr Badat should be involved in such projects.
In his talk Dr Badat explained, that the 1960s were a good time for whites, and for some blacks who found themselves in positions of power. For the majority of black people however, it was a time of banning and repression, external social control and forced acquiescence. There seemed little likelihood of a successful political challenge to the regime being mounted. Not only were the majority of the population struggling under increasingly repressive legal constraints but there had been, as a consequence of this, widespread demoralisation of the black population.
SASO was formed in 1968, after some of its members decided to break away from the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS), a multi-racial student organisation which was dominated by whites. One incident, in particular, sparked the breakaway.
In 1967 Steven Bantu Biko, a medical student at Natal University, attended a NUSAS conference hosted by Rhodes University. Four days before the conference was due to start, the administration of Rhodes decided not to allow black students to be accommodated on campus. Biko led the walk out and shortly thereafter, with the input of Barney Pityana, current UNISA Vice-Chancellor, the founding principles of SASO were established.
SASO escaped immediate repression due to being based on black university campuses. It developed a large following on these campuses, which, as Dr Badat points out, was intriguing in itself as the black universities were not designed to produce dissidents. Rather, these tertiary institutions were intended to win intelligent blacks to the separate development cause.
What the ruling party did not realise was that universities gathered together students who had survived the rigours of the black schooling system and yet still faced a limited future and the humiliation of legalised white oppression. The conditions for the formation of SASO were clearly present.
According to Dr Badat, some of the reasons for writing the book are that current student activists are not necessarily aware of the rich history of student politics in South Africa. The book, 'Black Man, You Are On Your Own', attempts to go some way in correcting this.
Also discussed in the book are the cultural and expressive elements of the Black Consciousness movement. As examples, Dr Badat points to the use of the slogan, 'Black is Beautiful', and the attack on skin lightening and hair straightening products. The use of the clenched fist salute is another example of a cultural expression of consciousness. Songs, poems and drama representing black culture and people were designed to stir black audiences to action.
Dr Badat maintains that Black Consciousness was a response to these experiences and conditions of oppression. He argues that when judging the success or otherwise of a political movement, the form of the political terrain and how the movement was bound to move on that terrain should be studied, not merely the number of members or its doctrine.
"What was won," says Dr Badat, "must be judged on what was possible. In this sense, there is no doubt that SASO helped to reshape South Africa’s political terrain.”
Story by Jeannie McKeown
Picture Caption: Nkosinathi Biko