I Write What I Like (Heinemann African Writers Series) - Tapa blanda

Steven Biko was only 31 when he was murdered in prison, after having been detained by the South African apartheid regime under a "terrorism" legislation. Despite his short life, Biko was destined to become something of a revolutionary icon. Within a year of his death in 1977, a selection of his speeches and articles (including extracts from evidence given during his trials) was published as this collection. Born in the Cape Province in 1946, Biko spent most of his life as an active member of the students movement. He was the loudest advocate in his day of the Black Consciousness Movement which was essentially a call for blacks, instead of non-blacks, to lead the struggle against apartheid. In Biko's opinion, no one was better qualified, and could be more sincere in that purpose, to free black people than black people themselves. Most of his speeches and writings are an articulation of this dominant theme of his life. Biko's writings are sincere and thought provoking. He deals with a wide range of issues- racism, the role of religion in the revolutionary struggle, the socio-political structures of the apartheid regime (including Bantustans and the racial division of education), black culture, the role of fear in perpetuating oppression and his own stoicism in the face of torture and death. Like him or hate him, Biko stands out as a man who, literarily, put his life on the line for what he believed. His courage shines through the pages of this book.