48 Quotes by Steve Biko

No group, however benevolent, can ever hand power to the vanquished on a plate.

At the time of his death, Biko had a wife and three children for which he left a letter that stated in one part: “I've devoted my life to see equality for blacks, and at the same time, I've denied the needs of my family. Please understand that I take these actions, not out of selfishness or arrogance, but to preserve a South Africa worth living in for blacks and whites.

We regard our living together not as an unfortunate mishap warranting endless competition among us but as a deliberate act of God to make us a community of brothers and sisters jointly involved in the quest for a composite answer to the varied problems of life. Hence in all we do we always place man first and hence all our action is usually joint community oriented action rather than the individualism." - Steven Biko

Black Consciousness is in essence the realization by the black man of the need to rally together with his brothers around the cause of their oppression.

We regard witchcraft, as part of the mystery of our cultural heritage

There's no transformation process that could bear the desired outcomes without women throwing their weight behind that change initiative, and the same holds for the nation-building process.

Black man, you are on your own.

It is better to die for an idea that will live, than to live for an idea that will die.

I’m going to be me as I am, and you can beat me or jail me or even kill me, but I’m not going to be what you want me to be.