● INTRODUCTION:
● black resistance to apartheid seemed limited in 1968 ⇒ student movement took up the
mantle of struggle
● under leadership of Steve Biko - a new concept of black identity was forged
● new consciousness would provoke explosive responses from students in the 1970s
● developments between 1968-83 caused a growing number of whites to doubt the
possibility of implementing apartheid
●
● WHAT WAS BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS AND HOW DID IT INFLUENCE
THE SOWETO UPRISING?
●
● African Higher Education:
● Extension of University Education Act passed in 1959 ⇒ caused new opposition
momentum to develop
● 'Bantu education' was heavily criticised
● nationalists aim to create ethnically specific universities that encouraged the use of
African languages and identification
○ higher educational provisions for black students expanded
● 1959 Act: Africans were directed to the University of the North (Turfloop)
○ became an ethnic and political melting pot and students became politicised
○ radical Christian and Black American ideas emerged
● 1960s: 2/3 of Africans professed Christianity ⇒ African independent chuched
increased
● the militant Christianity of MLK and black power slogans drifted back to students
● Steve Biko & SASO:
● Biko led the black delegation during the 1967 NUSAS Congress at Rhodes University
○ university refused to allow black students to stay in residences on campus
during the conference
○ triggered the formation of separate black student movements
● South African Students Organisation (SASO) founded in 1969 at Turfloop ⇒ Biko was
1st president
○ took up the Africanist ideas expressed by the ANC Youth League and elements
of black and liberation theology, African nationalism and American black power
○ called their views 'black consciousness' arguing black people should lead
themselves
●
● Black Consciousness:
● less organised political movement and more an intellectual orientation
● attitude of mind aimed to ensure that black people were 'self defined'
● blackness referred to colour but was also a political and psychological identity
● black universities such as Turfloop and Fort Hare produced activists who became
central in protest politics
● SASO was able to maintain a strong presence on the black campuses by influencing or
controlling the Student Representative Councils
● in Mozambique, FREMILO had been fighting an armed struggle since 1964
○ at Turfloop student leaders organised a rally ⇒ 1,200 attended
● in Durban, SASO staged a march and rally at a public stadium, ignoring a government
ban
● leadership had moved from ideological mobilisation to direct confrontation
● 1972: Black Consciousness Movement and a Black People's convention launched
● some aspects of BC drew from the PAC but its leaders were careful to distance
themselves from direct connection with that banned organistion
● BC looked to the future ⇒ generational movement of students and youth
● 1972: student president at Turfloop: Tiro, made a speech at the graduation ceremony
○ influenced by BC ⇒ made a stinging attack on the university authorities for the
poor facilities, discrimination against African staff and the inequalities in society
● black resistance to apartheid seemed limited in 1968 ⇒ student movement took up the
mantle of struggle
● under leadership of Steve Biko - a new concept of black identity was forged
● new consciousness would provoke explosive responses from students in the 1970s
● developments between 1968-83 caused a growing number of whites to doubt the
possibility of implementing apartheid
●
● WHAT WAS BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS AND HOW DID IT INFLUENCE
THE SOWETO UPRISING?
●
● African Higher Education:
● Extension of University Education Act passed in 1959 ⇒ caused new opposition
momentum to develop
● 'Bantu education' was heavily criticised
● nationalists aim to create ethnically specific universities that encouraged the use of
African languages and identification
○ higher educational provisions for black students expanded
● 1959 Act: Africans were directed to the University of the North (Turfloop)
○ became an ethnic and political melting pot and students became politicised
○ radical Christian and Black American ideas emerged
● 1960s: 2/3 of Africans professed Christianity ⇒ African independent chuched
increased
● the militant Christianity of MLK and black power slogans drifted back to students
● Steve Biko & SASO:
● Biko led the black delegation during the 1967 NUSAS Congress at Rhodes University
○ university refused to allow black students to stay in residences on campus
during the conference
○ triggered the formation of separate black student movements
● South African Students Organisation (SASO) founded in 1969 at Turfloop ⇒ Biko was
1st president
○ took up the Africanist ideas expressed by the ANC Youth League and elements
of black and liberation theology, African nationalism and American black power
○ called their views 'black consciousness' arguing black people should lead
themselves
●
● Black Consciousness:
● less organised political movement and more an intellectual orientation
● attitude of mind aimed to ensure that black people were 'self defined'
● blackness referred to colour but was also a political and psychological identity
● black universities such as Turfloop and Fort Hare produced activists who became
central in protest politics
● SASO was able to maintain a strong presence on the black campuses by influencing or
controlling the Student Representative Councils
● in Mozambique, FREMILO had been fighting an armed struggle since 1964
○ at Turfloop student leaders organised a rally ⇒ 1,200 attended
● in Durban, SASO staged a march and rally at a public stadium, ignoring a government
ban
● leadership had moved from ideological mobilisation to direct confrontation
● 1972: Black Consciousness Movement and a Black People's convention launched
● some aspects of BC drew from the PAC but its leaders were careful to distance
themselves from direct connection with that banned organistion
● BC looked to the future ⇒ generational movement of students and youth
● 1972: student president at Turfloop: Tiro, made a speech at the graduation ceremony
○ influenced by BC ⇒ made a stinging attack on the university authorities for the
poor facilities, discrimination against African staff and the inequalities in society
