WEBVTT - Stephen Bantu Biko: The Road Toward Emancipation

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<v Speaker 1>I have cherished the idea of a democratic and society.

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<v Speaker 1>It'll be all bestials we leave together in hall and

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<v Speaker 1>with equal opportunity. But my Lord, if it needs be,

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<v Speaker 1>it is an idea but which I am prepared to die.

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<v Speaker 1>You just heard anti apartheid revolutionary Nelson Mandela addressed the

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<v Speaker 1>court at the opening of his trial for sabotage in

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<v Speaker 1>April of nineteen sixty four. He said what many other

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<v Speaker 1>justice seekers have, that he was not afraid to die

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<v Speaker 1>in pursuit of freedom. Many people before him died for

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<v Speaker 1>their activism, and many people since then have been murdered

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<v Speaker 1>for speaking up. We mourn their deaths, and we wonder

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<v Speaker 1>what they could have done had they not been killed,

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<v Speaker 1>But thank goodness they lived. I'm Eve Steff Coote and

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<v Speaker 1>this is Unpopular a podcast about the people in history

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<v Speaker 1>who didn't let the threat of persecution keep them from

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<v Speaker 1>speaking truth to power. What do we do when we

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<v Speaker 1>are ruled by governments that perpetrate violence and meet out

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<v Speaker 1>harsh punishments indiscriminately? What do we do when we realize

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<v Speaker 1>we have the power to change systemic injustices. Well, not

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<v Speaker 1>everyone is compelled to fight on the front lines standing

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<v Speaker 1>up to big anything can be intimidating and scary, and

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<v Speaker 1>being one of nearly eight billion people in the world

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<v Speaker 1>can make us feel small and far from powerful. Risk

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<v Speaker 1>aversion helps keep us alive. The vanguard isn't for everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>but other times we feel the need to ignore that

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<v Speaker 1>primal drive for survival, where bungee jumping off the side

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<v Speaker 1>of a bridge, hundreds of feet in the air, with

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<v Speaker 1>only our bungee cords and strong conviction that it's not

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<v Speaker 1>our time to go there to save us. In the

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen fifty eight book Stride Toward Freedom The Montgomery Story

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<v Speaker 1>by Martin Luther King Jr. King said, this human progress

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<v Speaker 1>is neither automatic nor inevitable. Even a superficial look at

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<v Speaker 1>history reveals that no social advance rolls in on the

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<v Speaker 1>wheels of inevitability. Every step towards the goal of justice

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<v Speaker 1>requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle, the tireless exertions and passionate

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<v Speaker 1>concern of dedicated individuals. Without persistent effort, time itself becomes

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<v Speaker 1>an ally of the insurgent and primitive forces of a

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<v Speaker 1>rational emotionalism and social destruction. This is no time for

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<v Speaker 1>apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and

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<v Speaker 1>positive action. When I think about this quote, I get

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<v Speaker 1>caught on this idea of a world that's crumbling because

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<v Speaker 1>we are not constantly working. To be honest, there's something

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<v Speaker 1>about this sentiment that's depressing and makes me feel jaded.

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<v Speaker 1>The world gave us sandy beaches, tropical rainforest teeming with

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<v Speaker 1>colorful life, and prestige television just for us to have

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<v Speaker 1>to sacrifice many, many hours of leisure to keep us

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<v Speaker 1>from destroying ourselves. I mean, it doesn't sound like the

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<v Speaker 1>most well designed experiment, but that is the reality of

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<v Speaker 1>our time on Earth. It's not the most pleasant thing

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<v Speaker 1>to imagine being one step away from annihilation and having

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<v Speaker 1>to put an ungodly amount of work just to make

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<v Speaker 1>sure we don't reach that precipice. It toes the line

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<v Speaker 1>of absurdity. Kind of like scrambling to continuously fill a

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<v Speaker 1>bucket with a hole in it. But here we are

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<v Speaker 1>playing defense against the forces that threatened to hear us

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<v Speaker 1>apart It's tiring, but it's necessary. Stephen Bantubico was one

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<v Speaker 1>of the people who realized how inhumane and devastating apartheid

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<v Speaker 1>was too Black people, and took vigorous and positive action.

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<v Speaker 1>As Dr King put it, Apartheid was an institutional problem

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<v Speaker 1>that was pervasive in all segments of South African society,

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<v Speaker 1>but Vico was committed to the liberation of black folks

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<v Speaker 1>from that oppressive system of racial segregation and from self limitations.

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<v Speaker 1>He didn't get to see the end of apartheid, but

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<v Speaker 1>he did see his mission through to his end. Vico

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<v Speaker 1>was born in Tarka, stood in the Eastern Province of

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<v Speaker 1>South Africa now called Eastern Cape, on December eighteenth, nineteen.

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<v Speaker 1>His family was Closa, the second largest cultural group in

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<v Speaker 1>South Africa. His mother, Nokuzola Mackete Duna, worked as a

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<v Speaker 1>domestic worker and as a cook at Gray's Hospital Zungai Bico.

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<v Speaker 1>His father worked as a policeman then clerk in the

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<v Speaker 1>King Williamstown Native Affairs Office and some Gay died in

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen fifty before he could get his law degree from

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<v Speaker 1>the University of South Africa when Stephen was four years old.

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<v Speaker 1>Stephen was his parents third child. His older brother Kaya

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<v Speaker 1>was involved in the Pan Africanist Congress, an organization and

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<v Speaker 1>later political party concerned with Africanist policies for black South Africans.

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<v Speaker 1>Steve excelled as a student, but after Kaya was arrested

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<v Speaker 1>and jailed under suspicion of his involvement with the Armed

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<v Speaker 1>wing of the Pan Africanist Congress, Steve was interrogated by

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<v Speaker 1>police for his connection to Kaya and subsequently expelled from

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<v Speaker 1>his school, and at this point Steve's political interest was roused.

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<v Speaker 1>Kaya set the following about his younger brother. Steve was

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<v Speaker 1>expelled for absolutely no reason at all. But in retrospect,

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<v Speaker 1>I walk on the South African government's gesture of exposing

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<v Speaker 1>a really good politician. I had unsuccessfully tried to get

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<v Speaker 1>Steve interested in politics. The police were able to do

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<v Speaker 1>in one day what had eluded me for years. This

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<v Speaker 1>time the great giant was awakened. I know you're dying

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<v Speaker 1>to find out what the giant did when he got woke.

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<v Speaker 1>But we can't dive into Steve's activism without touching on

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<v Speaker 1>what apartheid was and how it started. When we come

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<v Speaker 1>back from the break, we'll talk a little about the

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<v Speaker 1>system of separateness that emerged in South Africa. Here's the

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<v Speaker 1>Crash course on the beginnings of apartheid, so you can

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<v Speaker 1>get a feel for the world. Beaco was born into

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<v Speaker 1>In nineteen ten, the former British colonies of the Cape Natale,

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<v Speaker 1>trans Fall and Orange River were united to become provinces

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<v Speaker 1>in the Union of South Africa, and the Union became

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<v Speaker 1>an independent dominion of the British Empire. Just three years later,

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<v Speaker 1>Territorial apartheid began in South Africa when the Land Act

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<v Speaker 1>was passed. The Act reserved most South African land for

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<v Speaker 1>white people and designated very little land for Africans. To

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<v Speaker 1>be specific, more than eighty percent of the land was

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<v Speaker 1>designated for white people, who made up less than twenty

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<v Speaker 1>of the population. Africans made up about sixty seven percent

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<v Speaker 1>of the population, but only about seven percent of arable

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<v Speaker 1>land was allocated to them as so called reserves. That percentage, though,

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<v Speaker 1>was later increased to thirteen White folks were not allowed

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<v Speaker 1>to buy land from black folks, and black folks were

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<v Speaker 1>not allowed to buy land from white people. Sharecropping on

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<v Speaker 1>farms was forbidden, though that wasn't always the case in practice.

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<v Speaker 1>While black people were being evicted off of white farmers land,

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<v Speaker 1>white farmers were getting low interest loans from the government

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<v Speaker 1>that allowed them to increase the efficiency of their farms.

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<v Speaker 1>Land dispossession and segregation were already part of South African

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<v Speaker 1>history before the Land Act was passed. The problem of

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<v Speaker 1>how to deal with indigenous peoples in South Africa became

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<v Speaker 1>known as the Native question. The Dutch in British seized

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<v Speaker 1>and occupied land as they pursued expansion, depriving indigenous African

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<v Speaker 1>communities of their land. So called native reserve were established

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<v Speaker 1>as early as eighteen forty eight in Natal and the

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<v Speaker 1>Gland Gray Act of eighteen ninety four, which applied to

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<v Speaker 1>a district in the Cape Colony, disenfranchised Africans and limited

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<v Speaker 1>the number of Africans who could live on and own

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<v Speaker 1>their own land. So even though the nineteen thirteen Land

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<v Speaker 1>Act was the first big piece of segregation legislation passed

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<v Speaker 1>by the Union Parliament, it was the culmination of years

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<v Speaker 1>of policies that enforced the perceived superiority of whiteness and

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<v Speaker 1>inferiority of blackness, and from their political discrimination based on

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<v Speaker 1>race and the enforcement of boss cap or white supremacy

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<v Speaker 1>for the benefit of the minority white state grew more aggressive.

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<v Speaker 1>Former Board General James Hertzog founded the African or Nationalist

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<v Speaker 1>Party in nineteen fourteen in opposition to the moderate policies

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<v Speaker 1>of Prime Minister Lewis Botha and Interior Minds and Defense

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<v Speaker 1>Minister Jan Christian Smuts Hertzog and the National Party supported

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<v Speaker 1>South Africa's interests over Britain's and advocated for two parallel

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<v Speaker 1>but separate cultural streams for the English and African or communities.

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<v Speaker 1>Afrikaaners are a South African ethnic who descended from Dutch,

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<v Speaker 1>German and French immigrants who migrated to South Africa in

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<v Speaker 1>the seventeenth century. By nine four, the National Party had

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<v Speaker 1>risen to power with the help of the Labor Party,

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<v Speaker 1>both of which wanted to protect white labor, and by

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen forty eight Daniel Milan had become the first Nationalist

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<v Speaker 1>Prime Minister, and the National Party introduced apartheid, which would

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<v Speaker 1>write white domination into law. Whites, Blacks, Indians and colors

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<v Speaker 1>as mixed people were called composed South Africa. The government

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<v Speaker 1>proceeded to institute laws that introduced identity cards, determined where

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<v Speaker 1>people lived according to race forbade interracial marriage and sex,

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<v Speaker 1>disenfranchised colored voters, allowed for the racial segregation of public areas,

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<v Speaker 1>and separated ethnic groups among Bantu stands or what the

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<v Speaker 1>government called Homelands. Steve got into the Durban Medical School

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<v Speaker 1>at the University of Natal Non European section in nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>sixty six. His first year there, he was elected to

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<v Speaker 1>the students Representative Council, which was a member of the

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<v Speaker 1>National Union of South African Students or in U s

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<v Speaker 1>a S. The in U s a S was mostly white,

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<v Speaker 1>as were most students in South African universities. Then, when

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<v Speaker 1>Steve went to an in U s a S conference

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<v Speaker 1>in nineteen sixty seven at Rhodes University, the black students

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<v Speaker 1>were fed and housed separately per the Separate Amenities at

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<v Speaker 1>passed by Parliament in nineteen fifty three. Protesting the s

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<v Speaker 1>a s IS knowledge of the arrangements, he proposed that

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<v Speaker 1>the conference be suspended, but that motion was dismissed. He

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<v Speaker 1>and other black students in the organization grew incensed with

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<v Speaker 1>the dominance of the white majority in the organization and

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<v Speaker 1>how their concerns weren't being acknowledged to him and other

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<v Speaker 1>South Africans in the organization. White liberals weren't totally genuine

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<v Speaker 1>about considering black folks equals, and they were implicit in

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<v Speaker 1>upholding the status quo of white people's racial superiority. Steve

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<v Speaker 1>began traveling throughout South Africa advocating for student organization for

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<v Speaker 1>black people only. Soon, students agreed to join Steed in

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<v Speaker 1>the creation of the South African Students Organization or s

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<v Speaker 1>A s O, which would truly address black people's needs

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<v Speaker 1>and completely reject white dominance. In nine, ECO split from

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<v Speaker 1>the National Union of South African Students to form the

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<v Speaker 1>s A s O. In July of the next year,

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<v Speaker 1>he was elected president of the organization. Here's some of

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<v Speaker 1>what he said in his presidential address to the first

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<v Speaker 1>National Formation School of s A s O in December

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<v Speaker 1>of nineteen sixty nine. After laying out the aims of

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<v Speaker 1>the organization. The fact that the all ideology centers around

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<v Speaker 1>non white students as a group might make a few

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<v Speaker 1>people to believe that the organization is racially inclined. Yet

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<v Speaker 1>what A s O has done is simply to take

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<v Speaker 1>stock of the present scene in the country and to

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<v Speaker 1>realize that not unless the non white students decide to

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<v Speaker 1>lift themselves from the duldrums will they ever hope to

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<v Speaker 1>get out of them. What we want is not black visibility,

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<v Speaker 1>but real black participation. In other words, it does not

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<v Speaker 1>help us to see several quiet black faces in a

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<v Speaker 1>multi racial student gathering which ultimately concentrates on what the

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<v Speaker 1>white students believe are the needs for the black students.

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<v Speaker 1>Because of our sheer bargaining power as an organization, we

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<v Speaker 1>can manage, in fact, to bring about a more meaningful

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<v Speaker 1>contact between the various color groups in the student world.

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<v Speaker 1>The creation of the s A s O was linked

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<v Speaker 1>with the Black Consciousness movement. The National Party government had

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<v Speaker 1>suppressed the Pan Africanist Congress and African National Congress, a

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<v Speaker 1>black nationalist organization that fought for the rights of colors

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<v Speaker 1>and Black Africans and opposed apartheid. The organizations continued to

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<v Speaker 1>operate underground and outside of South Africa, but new organizations

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<v Speaker 1>popped up to make up for how many liberation leaders

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<v Speaker 1>have been banned, imprisoned, or exiled. Nelson Mandela, for instance,

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<v Speaker 1>was arrested in nineteen sixty two and sentenced to life

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<v Speaker 1>imprisonment in nineteen sixty four. The state even kidnapped or

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<v Speaker 1>killed some activists. So groups that organized around the ideology

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<v Speaker 1>of the Black Consciousness movement rejected apartheid believed in black

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<v Speaker 1>solidarity as a means to achieve liberation, rejected the notion

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<v Speaker 1>that white people were superior, and embraced the value and

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<v Speaker 1>power of black people. Politically, the word black was an

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<v Speaker 1>inclusive term that constituted Indians, Colors, and Africans, though that

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<v Speaker 1>usage did not initially catch on in the mainstream. Black

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<v Speaker 1>consciousness required a shift in mindset where the term black

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<v Speaker 1>was a positive, unifying identification for people of color that

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<v Speaker 1>would encourage pride, and as the movement encouraged black leadership

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<v Speaker 1>and self reliance, the phrase black man, you are on

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<v Speaker 1>your own became its slogan that was radical. While many

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<v Speaker 1>people who were against apartheid were inspired by the movement,

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<v Speaker 1>others saw it and the S A s O as

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<v Speaker 1>anti white. Regardless, the s A s O launched literacy, health, agricultural,

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<v Speaker 1>and other community programs to better society, but also to

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<v Speaker 1>stimulate notions of self empowerment. BECO became the publication's officer

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<v Speaker 1>and started a series called I Write What I Like

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<v Speaker 1>under the pseudonym Frank Talk. But soon the s A

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<v Speaker 1>s O wanted to expand its reach by including non

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<v Speaker 1>student adults. In the nineteen seventy two, the Black People's

0:16:02.760 --> 0:16:06.440
<v Speaker 1>Convention was launched with the help of Vico, the Convention

0:16:06.480 --> 0:16:10.600
<v Speaker 1>brought together about seventy black consciousness groups like the South

0:16:10.640 --> 0:16:15.200
<v Speaker 1>African Students Movement, the National Association of Youth Organizations, and

0:16:15.280 --> 0:16:19.360
<v Speaker 1>the Black Workers Project. Vico became the first president of

0:16:19.400 --> 0:16:22.680
<v Speaker 1>the Convention, and that same year he was expelled from

0:16:22.680 --> 0:16:26.720
<v Speaker 1>medical school for his activism. Vico also helped found the

0:16:26.760 --> 0:16:30.520
<v Speaker 1>Black Community Programs, the purpose of which Vico described the

0:16:30.600 --> 0:16:35.040
<v Speaker 1>following way. The black man is a defeated being who

0:16:35.080 --> 0:16:39.120
<v Speaker 1>finds it very difficult to lift himself up by his bootstrings.

0:16:39.680 --> 0:16:43.880
<v Speaker 1>He is alienated, alienated from himself, from his friends, and

0:16:44.000 --> 0:16:47.280
<v Speaker 1>from society in general. He has made to live all

0:16:47.320 --> 0:16:51.680
<v Speaker 1>the time concerned with the matters of existence, concerned with tomorrow.

0:16:52.160 --> 0:16:56.160
<v Speaker 1>You know what shall I eat tomorrow? Now, we felt

0:16:56.200 --> 0:16:58.800
<v Speaker 1>that we must attempt to defeat and break this kind

0:16:58.800 --> 0:17:02.040
<v Speaker 1>of attitude to and still wants more a sense of

0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:08.040
<v Speaker 1>human dignity within the black man. Now I shouldn't note

0:17:08.080 --> 0:17:12.280
<v Speaker 1>here the reference to the black man solely. The attitudes

0:17:12.440 --> 0:17:15.960
<v Speaker 1>of men in the Black Consciousness movement were the same

0:17:16.000 --> 0:17:19.760
<v Speaker 1>as the attitudes of men in general. Women were typically

0:17:19.760 --> 0:17:24.520
<v Speaker 1>excluded and becos discourse around black consciousness. Women were certainly

0:17:24.600 --> 0:17:27.960
<v Speaker 1>a part of the movement, but they were largely acknowledged

0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:32.439
<v Speaker 1>as support. Think of the emphasis on black manhood and

0:17:32.520 --> 0:17:35.720
<v Speaker 1>the sexism happening in the Black Panther Party around the

0:17:35.760 --> 0:17:39.640
<v Speaker 1>same time in the States. But the seventies is when

0:17:39.680 --> 0:17:43.160
<v Speaker 1>the s A s O really gained ground. It called

0:17:43.160 --> 0:17:47.760
<v Speaker 1>for Banto stand leaders to stop enabling oppression, rejected apartheids

0:17:47.840 --> 0:17:51.960
<v Speaker 1>Bantu education system, and really pushed pride and black identity.

0:17:52.640 --> 0:17:55.439
<v Speaker 1>As the s A s O became more radical and

0:17:55.480 --> 0:17:59.040
<v Speaker 1>the government realized how much power it was gaining, Veco

0:17:59.160 --> 0:18:02.320
<v Speaker 1>and the organization and other leaders became targets of state

0:18:02.359 --> 0:18:07.119
<v Speaker 1>surveillance and silencing. We're going to take a quick break,

0:18:07.400 --> 0:18:10.719
<v Speaker 1>but when we get back, Vico's vocal opposition of apartheid,

0:18:11.080 --> 0:18:15.000
<v Speaker 1>support for black self determination and his leadership puts him

0:18:15.040 --> 0:18:29.040
<v Speaker 1>in the sights of the apartheid government. Vico and the

0:18:29.080 --> 0:18:34.040
<v Speaker 1>Black consciousness movements ideas around psychological liberation and black dignity

0:18:34.520 --> 0:18:40.840
<v Speaker 1>are still relevant. Internalized racism and inferiority complexes affect self

0:18:40.920 --> 0:18:45.640
<v Speaker 1>image and mental health to this day. Overcoming deeply ingrained

0:18:45.680 --> 0:18:50.000
<v Speaker 1>thought processes is difficult and requires a lot of unlearning,

0:18:50.760 --> 0:18:54.480
<v Speaker 1>but thinking differently is a key step towards acting differently,

0:18:55.160 --> 0:18:59.560
<v Speaker 1>and society has shown that manipulation of thought and mandating

0:18:59.600 --> 0:19:04.800
<v Speaker 1>ignorant are effective methods of oppression, and that knowledge and

0:19:05.040 --> 0:19:10.760
<v Speaker 1>insight helped pave the path towards emancipation. Black education, pride,

0:19:10.760 --> 0:19:13.959
<v Speaker 1>and self love have become important tenants and black folks

0:19:14.040 --> 0:19:18.960
<v Speaker 1>journey of healing and reclamation. Yet saying things like black

0:19:19.000 --> 0:19:23.320
<v Speaker 1>Lives Matter, advocating for black pride, and acknowledging the lingering

0:19:23.359 --> 0:19:28.960
<v Speaker 1>effects of a discriminatory history are still controversial. We could

0:19:29.040 --> 0:19:33.040
<v Speaker 1>argue and theorize all day about which activists and thought

0:19:33.119 --> 0:19:36.440
<v Speaker 1>leaders were brought down through state sanctioned suppression and violence

0:19:36.760 --> 0:19:40.720
<v Speaker 1>for their radical ideology, but the fact remains that people

0:19:40.760 --> 0:19:44.720
<v Speaker 1>of color around the world have been systemically disadvantaged to

0:19:44.880 --> 0:19:48.520
<v Speaker 1>the benefit of white people, and when that order has

0:19:48.560 --> 0:19:53.879
<v Speaker 1>been disrupted, it's often been met with brutal penalties. Instead

0:19:53.920 --> 0:19:57.679
<v Speaker 1>of conceding power, privileged and reputation for the advancement of

0:19:57.720 --> 0:20:02.120
<v Speaker 1>society those at the top, it often rather suppressed opposition

0:20:02.520 --> 0:20:08.600
<v Speaker 1>and deny progress to maintain the status quo. But what

0:20:08.760 --> 0:20:13.800
<v Speaker 1>good does it do humanity to thoughtlessly or selfishly uphold

0:20:13.800 --> 0:20:19.560
<v Speaker 1>harmful mindsets and systems Silencing people for intelligent dissent or

0:20:19.720 --> 0:20:25.600
<v Speaker 1>difference is antithetical to the history of human progress. Where

0:20:25.600 --> 0:20:32.879
<v Speaker 1>would we be without agitators and innovators. In March of

0:20:32.960 --> 0:20:37.159
<v Speaker 1>nineteen seventy three, the state banned Steve and confined him

0:20:37.200 --> 0:20:41.560
<v Speaker 1>to the magisterial district of King Williams Town. Per his

0:20:41.600 --> 0:20:44.560
<v Speaker 1>banning order, he went to his mother's house in Leytonville

0:20:44.920 --> 0:20:47.560
<v Speaker 1>and he stayed there for a while. Though he could

0:20:47.640 --> 0:20:50.240
<v Speaker 1>no longer work with the Black Community Programs in Durban,

0:20:50.680 --> 0:20:52.879
<v Speaker 1>he set up a branch of the bc P and

0:20:53.040 --> 0:20:58.320
<v Speaker 1>King Williamstown. He established a health clinic, helped with publications,

0:20:58.359 --> 0:21:02.120
<v Speaker 1>and ran the BCP office in Resource Center. The state

0:21:02.200 --> 0:21:05.919
<v Speaker 1>continued to surveil, arrest and detain Vico, but he was

0:21:05.960 --> 0:21:10.000
<v Speaker 1>never convicted and he kept advising on political issues and

0:21:10.040 --> 0:21:14.920
<v Speaker 1>working to unite black organizations. Meanwhile, the government was inflicting

0:21:15.000 --> 0:21:19.920
<v Speaker 1>cruel retribution upon other Black consciousness and anti apartheid activists

0:21:20.000 --> 0:21:25.000
<v Speaker 1>as well. Activists, mostly Booty Mangana was sentenced to five

0:21:25.080 --> 0:21:28.720
<v Speaker 1>years in prison for allegedly recruiting two police officers to

0:21:28.840 --> 0:21:33.040
<v Speaker 1>join the armed struggle. An activist, o Uncle pots Abram Tiro,

0:21:33.359 --> 0:21:36.240
<v Speaker 1>was killed by a parcel bomb in early nineteen seventy

0:21:36.240 --> 0:21:41.080
<v Speaker 1>four after he went into exile in Botswana. In June

0:21:41.119 --> 0:21:45.960
<v Speaker 1>nineteen seventy six, students in Soweto protested Bantu education and

0:21:46.040 --> 0:21:50.960
<v Speaker 1>the compulsory classroom use of Afrikaans, the language of the oppressor.

0:21:51.600 --> 0:21:54.880
<v Speaker 1>The protest, which spread around the country and became known

0:21:54.960 --> 0:21:58.760
<v Speaker 1>as the Soweto Uprising, resulted in the murder of hundreds

0:21:58.800 --> 0:22:03.000
<v Speaker 1>of students when least open fire. The world was watching

0:22:03.119 --> 0:22:07.520
<v Speaker 1>and many nations denounced the apartheid regime. Even so, the

0:22:07.680 --> 0:22:11.280
<v Speaker 1>state stayed steady and its arresting and murdering of Black

0:22:11.280 --> 0:22:16.000
<v Speaker 1>Consciousness leaders. A couple of months after the uprising, Steve

0:22:16.160 --> 0:22:19.399
<v Speaker 1>was arrested and put in solitary confinement for a hundred

0:22:19.400 --> 0:22:25.000
<v Speaker 1>and one days. In August eighteenth, nineteen seventy seven, Vico

0:22:25.240 --> 0:22:28.919
<v Speaker 1>and his friend and activists Peter Jones, were stopped at

0:22:28.920 --> 0:22:32.560
<v Speaker 1>a roadblock in the Eastern Cape Province. They were taken

0:22:32.600 --> 0:22:35.880
<v Speaker 1>to police stations in Port Elizabeth, where they were tortured

0:22:35.920 --> 0:22:40.560
<v Speaker 1>by security police. Vico was stripped and manacled for twenty days,

0:22:40.920 --> 0:22:45.720
<v Speaker 1>then transferred to the Sunline building in Port Elizabeth. While detained,

0:22:45.800 --> 0:22:49.960
<v Speaker 1>Steve was beaten severely and By September seven, he had

0:22:49.960 --> 0:22:53.560
<v Speaker 1>gotten a brain hemorrhage, but the police still kept him

0:22:53.600 --> 0:22:56.879
<v Speaker 1>making and chained in his cell. By the time he

0:22:56.960 --> 0:23:00.240
<v Speaker 1>was finally taken to get medical care, Vico was in

0:23:00.320 --> 0:23:04.040
<v Speaker 1>poor condition. He died on the night of September twelve.

0:23:06.600 --> 0:23:10.480
<v Speaker 1>White journalist and friend of Steve's, Donald Woods said the

0:23:10.520 --> 0:23:14.600
<v Speaker 1>following in an article he wrote after Steve's death, how

0:23:14.640 --> 0:23:17.800
<v Speaker 1>I wish I could publish for all white South Africans

0:23:17.880 --> 0:23:22.720
<v Speaker 1>his thoughts about their fears, prejudices, and timidities, and what

0:23:22.840 --> 0:23:26.240
<v Speaker 1>he saw as the clear answers to these. But the government,

0:23:26.320 --> 0:23:30.520
<v Speaker 1>through its banning orders, silenced all his public statements, and

0:23:30.600 --> 0:23:34.719
<v Speaker 1>even in death he may not lawfully be quoted. He

0:23:34.800 --> 0:23:39.320
<v Speaker 1>was imprisoned without trial more than once, experiencing solitary confinement

0:23:39.400 --> 0:23:43.200
<v Speaker 1>several times. He always came out of such ordeals as

0:23:43.240 --> 0:23:46.879
<v Speaker 1>tough as ever and as humorous about the interrogation session,

0:23:48.320 --> 0:23:51.959
<v Speaker 1>and Woods went on to say, since the death of

0:23:52.000 --> 0:23:56.120
<v Speaker 1>Steve Vico was announced, I have received gloating messages from

0:23:56.119 --> 0:23:59.639
<v Speaker 1>white racists who rejoiced in his death and believe it

0:23:59.680 --> 0:24:03.560
<v Speaker 1>will aid their cause. They don't realize to what extent

0:24:03.680 --> 0:24:15.639
<v Speaker 1>his moderation was preserving the brittle peace in this country. Initially,

0:24:15.800 --> 0:24:19.280
<v Speaker 1>the government said Vico died of a hunger strike, but

0:24:19.359 --> 0:24:22.360
<v Speaker 1>a post mortem exam showed that he had died from

0:24:22.400 --> 0:24:26.800
<v Speaker 1>brain injuries. About twenty thousand people attended Vico's funeral and

0:24:26.960 --> 0:24:31.520
<v Speaker 1>King Williamstown that November. Years later, a post apartheid hearing

0:24:31.560 --> 0:24:35.800
<v Speaker 1>by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission affirmed the abuse that

0:24:35.880 --> 0:24:39.399
<v Speaker 1>led to his death and doctor's compliance in the death.

0:24:40.960 --> 0:24:44.800
<v Speaker 1>Not long after Steve's death, the state banned eighteen organizations

0:24:44.920 --> 0:24:49.520
<v Speaker 1>and many anti apartheid activists. By the early nineteen eighties,

0:24:49.880 --> 0:24:53.920
<v Speaker 1>the black consciousness movement had fizzled out, and apartheid didn't

0:24:54.040 --> 0:24:58.400
<v Speaker 1>end until nineteen when South Africa got a new constitution

0:24:58.840 --> 0:25:02.720
<v Speaker 1>and a black majority government led by Nelson Mandela was installed.

0:25:04.160 --> 0:25:06.880
<v Speaker 1>Steve was not the only person who advanced the black

0:25:06.920 --> 0:25:10.600
<v Speaker 1>consciousness cause in South Africa, and he definitely was not

0:25:10.640 --> 0:25:15.919
<v Speaker 1>the only one who vehemently and forcefully opposed apartheid. After

0:25:15.960 --> 0:25:20.119
<v Speaker 1>his death, Vico was respected as a martyr for actively

0:25:20.160 --> 0:25:24.359
<v Speaker 1>rejecting the barbaric apartheid regime and making black lives better

0:25:24.760 --> 0:25:29.240
<v Speaker 1>through political and community work. He was instrumental in an

0:25:29.280 --> 0:25:33.280
<v Speaker 1>ecosystem of doers who knew that apartheid was wrong and

0:25:33.320 --> 0:25:35.440
<v Speaker 1>we're willing to put in the work to abolish it.

0:25:39.240 --> 0:25:42.000
<v Speaker 1>Plenty of people did not see eye to eye with Vico,

0:25:42.600 --> 0:25:46.359
<v Speaker 1>even people who were in the fight against apartheid with him.

0:25:46.400 --> 0:25:49.439
<v Speaker 1>Some anti apartheid activists were corrupt and acted out of

0:25:49.440 --> 0:25:53.239
<v Speaker 1>self interest. Some did not believe in lumping Asians and

0:25:53.400 --> 0:25:57.439
<v Speaker 1>colors in South Africa under the label black. Many people

0:25:57.480 --> 0:26:01.359
<v Speaker 1>in South Africa and beyond didn't not even think blackness

0:26:01.480 --> 0:26:05.359
<v Speaker 1>was worthy of celebrating or uplifting. But when the stakes

0:26:05.400 --> 0:26:09.080
<v Speaker 1>are so high for people like Vico, backing down are

0:26:09.160 --> 0:26:13.800
<v Speaker 1>giving up is not an option. Not everyone feels responsible

0:26:13.840 --> 0:26:19.080
<v Speaker 1>for or capable of solving huge problems like apartheid. We

0:26:19.119 --> 0:26:22.560
<v Speaker 1>should recognize the amount of sacrifice it takes to be

0:26:22.600 --> 0:26:27.280
<v Speaker 1>irradical with constructive concerns. I would venture to say that

0:26:27.320 --> 0:26:31.000
<v Speaker 1>most people who do don't want to be hated or die.

0:26:31.920 --> 0:26:35.600
<v Speaker 1>They just know it's a probable outcome of challenging power

0:26:35.640 --> 0:26:42.240
<v Speaker 1>structures and thought patterns, backed by strong emotions. Vico did

0:26:42.320 --> 0:26:46.200
<v Speaker 1>not fear death. It is better to die for an

0:26:46.240 --> 0:26:49.040
<v Speaker 1>idea that will live than to live for an idea

0:26:49.119 --> 0:26:52.720
<v Speaker 1>that will die. He said he was not willing to

0:26:52.760 --> 0:26:56.840
<v Speaker 1>go into exile and leave the movement and people behind.

0:26:58.400 --> 0:27:03.399
<v Speaker 1>Decolonizing minds and helping people find true humanity was the mission.

0:27:04.840 --> 0:27:09.919
<v Speaker 1>Echoing Frederick Douglas, Vico wrote, we must accept that the

0:27:10.000 --> 0:27:13.879
<v Speaker 1>limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those

0:27:13.920 --> 0:27:18.920
<v Speaker 1>whom they oppress. We have to work for our own

0:27:18.960 --> 0:27:23.440
<v Speaker 1>liberation and evolution, no matter the cost. If you are

0:27:23.480 --> 0:27:26.600
<v Speaker 1>doing that work of resistance, you will make enemies who

0:27:26.640 --> 0:27:30.120
<v Speaker 1>try to silence you. But what stories like Becos tell

0:27:30.240 --> 0:27:33.240
<v Speaker 1>us is that we must remain open to ideas and

0:27:33.440 --> 0:27:36.800
<v Speaker 1>modes of thought that we believe are wrong, far fetched,

0:27:37.000 --> 0:27:42.040
<v Speaker 1>or impossible. When the goal is worthy, we must suspend

0:27:42.200 --> 0:27:51.000
<v Speaker 1>some disbelief, challenge our own convictions, and demand justice. Andrew

0:27:51.080 --> 0:27:55.199
<v Speaker 1>Howard is our producer. Holly Fry and Christopher hasiotis our

0:27:55.240 --> 0:27:59.320
<v Speaker 1>our executive producers. If you're not already subscribed, you can

0:27:59.359 --> 0:28:02.280
<v Speaker 1>make sure you never miss an episode by subscribing to

0:28:02.320 --> 0:28:05.359
<v Speaker 1>the show on Apple podcast, to I Heart Radio app,

0:28:05.760 --> 0:28:09.080
<v Speaker 1>or wherever you get your podcasts. We'll be back next

0:28:09.119 --> 0:28:24.800
<v Speaker 1>week with another episode of Unpopular M M