Biko Links
From Social Justice Wiki
Contents |
Multimedia
Audio Commentary
Click on the links below for taped statements from Mrs. Nontsikelelo Biko, the wife of Steve Biko, Donald Woods, the biographer of Steve Biko and editor of the Daily Dispatch in East London, South Africa, and George Bizos, a leading South African human rights lawyer on the 20th anniversary of Biko's death in 1997 and 2003.
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/04/07/0325222&mode=thread&tid=5
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/09/11/1454245
Video Commentary
BBC News Video: Newspaper editor Donald Woods addresses a meeting of students protesting against Biko’s death
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/low/dates/stories/september/12/newsid_3573000/3573054.stm
Music Lyrics and Samples
Several popular recording artists have performed songs dedicated to Steve Biko. Below are selected lyrics and links to recordings of their work.
Biko by Peter Gabriel
When I try to sleep at night
I can only dream in red
The outside world is black and white
With only one colour dead
Oh Biko, Biko, because Biko...
You can blow out a candle
But you can't blow out a fire
Once the flames begin to catch
The wind will blow it higher
Oh Biko, Biko, because Biko
Death of Steve Biko by Tom Paxton
“Stephen Biko lay in shackles on a urine-sodden mattress
In the solitary section, he was made to lie there naked
Ah, ah!
Given nothing he could wash with, exercise was not permitted
Stephen Biko lay in shackles, compliments of Colonel Goosen
Ah, ah, Africa!… Lyrics from Heroes, 1978.
Full Lyrics
Biko’s Kindred Lament by Steel Pulse
The night Steve Biko died I cried and I cried
The night Steve Biko died I cried and I cried
Biko, O, Steve Biko died still in chains
Biko, O, Steve Biko died still in chains.
Biko died in chains, moaned for you
Biko died in chains, moaned for you, yeh…
Full Lyrics
Music Clips:
Steve Biko (Stir it Up) by A Tribe Called Quest:
Steve Biko by Beenie Man:
Biko by Sweet Honey in the Rock
I’m an African by Dead Prez
Biko in the News
Biko’s Friend Describes Torture: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/38203.stm
Black Brazilians Learn from Biko: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4552119.stm
Row Clouds Biko Anniversary: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2253092.stm
Cry Freedom: Charting the Struggle: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/1500240.stm
For more information on Biko in the news, click here.
Miscellaneous Links
Azapo, The Black Consciousness Movement:
Mandela Honors Biko in King William’s Town:
South African Officers Confess to Killing Biko:
Cry Freedom:
South African Timeline:
New Internationalist, Facts About Apartheid:
Further Reading and Viewing
Biko, Steve. I Write What I Like. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002.
Briley, John. Cry Freedom . Berkeley: Berkeley Pub Group 1987. (Movie Tie edition)
Woods, Donald. Biko . London: Paddington Press Ltd, 1978.
Woods, Donald. Asking for Trouble London: Beacon Press, 1982.
Cry Freedom. dir. Richard Attenborough. (1987)