Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian
black consciousness movementlatest news & developments
Former North West premier Popo Molefe (Gallo Images)

Popo Molefe: From politics to fixing potholes

The struggle stalwart debunks narratives about racial discord in South Africa

Peruvian theologian Gustavo Gutiérrez died on 22 October at the age of 96. (Catholic Register)

How ‘shantytown’ priest Gustavo Gutiérrez changed the world

He developed liberation theology, rooted in the lived experience of the oppressed, and committed to transforming unjust social and political structures

Black Consciousness leader Steve Biko (in the poster above) taught that philosophy is a powerful thing, especially if it is shared. (Gallo Images/Oryx Media Archive)

Why Steve Biko still matters

The founder of Black Consciousness kept evolving; by the time of his terrible death he was moving away from hard-line racial isolationism. DREW FORREST traces his development in…

People’s hero: A mural depicting Amílcar Cabral who was the foremost leader of the struggle for the independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde from Portugal. (Photo by GUIZIOU Franck / hemis.fr / hemis.fr / Hemis via AFP)

How Cabral, Fanon and Freire shaped the struggle against apartheid South Africa — and still inspire

Amílcar Cabral was assassinated 50 years ago today. His thought, which sometimes arrived in South Africa via a circuitous route, speaks to our current crisis with undiminished…

A priest leads a funeral procession for four United Democratic Front activists from Queenstown who were abducted and murdered by the South African security police. Those slain included Matthew Goniwe and Sparrow Mkonto. One mourner carries a small ceremonial spear within his black power salute, symbolic of Umkonto Wa Sizwe, which means “spear of the nation”. (Photo by Gideon Mendel/Corbis via Getty Images)

Let us not allow FW De Klerk’s death to tear us apart

His blanket apology did not cast him as a man of principle but as a man of cowardice

Bishop Rubin Phillip, theologian, anti-apartheid activist and a close friend of Steve Biko. (Photograph by Mlungisi Mbele/New Frame)

Bishop Emeritus Rubin Phillip: The guerilla priest

From his adventures with Steve Biko to his support for shack dwellers in KwaZulu-Natal, Bishop Emeritus Rubin Phillip has always walked the talk of radical Christianity

When the Fees Must Fall movement erupted in October 2015, the discontent was not just about the fees. It was the threat of being excluded and obtaining the key that would lead to employment
Video

What comes after nationalism in Africa? A luta continua

There are a number of cases in the past decade where Africans have managed to push the conversation beyond liberal reforms as a political goal or did not spent all their energies…

Onkgopotse Tiro

Finally, a biography of Tiro

The anti-apartheid activist died when he was only 28, but he still inspires students

Up to $74.2 billion in revenue has been lost in the war, Oil and Mineral Resources Minister Ali Ghanem has said.(Aris Messinis/AFP)

Letters to the Editor: September 21 to 27

Our readers write in about: violence, foreign business, the ICC and Syria

‘The philosophy of Steve Biko was fundamentally the antithesis of this lie. It was about establishing the principles of which a new and more humane society would be established in our country,’ says President Cyril Ramaphosa (Twitter: The Presidency)
Video

Our True Humanity — Ramaphosa delivers Biko lecture

The president has called on South Africa to regain its humanity and moral compass

Christine Qunta joined the Black Consciousness Movement at the age of 20. At 66, she reflects on the women of the movement. (Photo: Elewani Netshifhire)

BCM women led from the front

The goal of black consciousness was social and psychological liberation for both sexes

Has Rhodes really transcended the legacy of the imperialist white supremacist whose governance of the Cape Colony prototyped racist policies later honed under apartheid?

A name change would be pointless if Rhodes still coddles white supremacy

The facts not in dispute are that Cecil John Rhodes was an “arch-imperialist and white supremacist who treated people of this region as sub-human"

Portraits of death: Sam Nhlengethwa

Biko book takes a few liberties

BC iconography book is thorough despite some blindspots

The Black Consciousness Movement commemorates fallen struggle hero Steve Biko at Kgosi Mampuru prison in Pretoria.

Biko’s vision of freedom must be kept alive – especially now

His murder reminds us that many people still live under the conditions engineered by apartheid

The Black Consciousness Movement commemorates fallen struggle hero Steve Biko at Kgosi Mampuru prison in Pretoria.

The Black Consciousness Movement commemorates Steve Biko

The Black Consciousness Movement commemorates fallen struggle hero Steve Biko at Kgosi Mampuru prison in Pretoria.

Ebrahim Harvey’s critique of Black Consciousness is yet another premature autopsy

The true worth of the political philosophy is immeasurable, especially in the electoral sphere, argues Itumeleng Mosala.

Demise of the Black Consciousness Movement: The once-mighty movement has died — but there’s a flicker of its re-emergence in the sociocultural realm.

This June 16, remember the Black Consciousness movement – and mourn its tragic demise

It’s hard to ignore the tragic demise of a movement that held and had so much meaning and potential.

High court halts auction of Steve Biko’s autopsy report

The high court in Johannesburg has found in favour of the family of Steve Biko and halted the auction of the autopsy into the cause of his death.

Strong, united opposition is good for ANC

Political consolidations, if done properly, are the lifeblood of both opposition and ruling party life, writes Hlumelo Biko.

Steve Biko in five quotes

In September we remembered significant quotes by Steve Bantu Biko. On what would have been his 67th birthday, we revisit his influence on politics.