I Write What I Like

I Write What I Like: Selected Writings by Steve Biko, is a work of nonfiction by Steve Biko, a South African antiapartheid activist and leader of the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM). Edited by Aelred Stubbs, Biko’s pastor and friend, and published posthumously in 1978, the book contains selected writings from the period between 1969 and 1972, from the time Biko became president of the South African Students’ Organization (SASO) to the moment of his banning. The book promotes key tenets of the BCM, notably, the need for Black unity and pride to end oppression. The book’s title comes from essays Biko published under the pseudonym Frank Talk in SASO’s newsletter. A foundational work in the field of antiapartheid literature, the book has inspired generations of racial equality activists and remains a central text in academic circles.

This guide uses the 1987 edition published by Heinemann.

Content Warning: The source material contains discussions of racism, racial segregation, violence, and human rights abuses.

Summary

I Write What I Like is a compilation of writings, interviews, and trial transcripts by Steve Biko comprising 19 parts: an introduction and 18 chapters. The Introduction lays the groundwork for the rest of the book with a brief biography of Biko, a South African antiapartheid activist, founder of the South African Students’ Organization (SASO), and leader of the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM). The first two chapters describe Biko’s early activities as an activist. Chapter 2, “SASO—Its Role, Its Significance and Its Future,” is Biko’s 1969 address to the first National Formation School of SASO. Biko emphasizes the significance of establishing an all-Black organization and outlines its overarching aims, namely, to support, unify, and empower Black students. Chapter 3, “Letter to SRC Presidents,” is a 1970 letter written by Biko introducing his organization to presidents of Students’ Representative Councils (SRC).

Chapters 4-6 address central aspects of Biko’s activism and the context in which they arose. In Chapter 4, “Black Campuses and Current Feelings,” Biko describes meeting with Black students across South Africa and heeding their calls for change. Chapter 5, “Black Souls in White Skins?” is an article Biko published under the pseudonym Frank Talk in SASO’s August 1970 newsletter. The article criticizes white liberalism for paying lip service to racial equality, while maintaining the status quo. Chapter 6, “We Blacks,” also a Frank Talk article, addresses the spiritual poverty of Black South Africans and the necessity of rebuilding Black pride and dignity.

Chapters 7-9 focus on the interrelated themes of The Role of Solidarity and The Importance of Pride and Black Consciousness. Chapter 7, “Fragmentation of the Black Resistance,” a Frank Talk article from SASO’s June 1971 newsletter, lays the foundation for the following two chapters by identifying the lack of unity among Black people as the main obstacle to emancipation. Biko traces this fragmentation to the government banning of Black political parties in 1960, which resulted in the withdrawal of Black people from politics. Fear of banning and imprisonment compelled Black leaders to work within the apartheid system and hindered Black solidarity. Chapter 8, “Some African Cultural Concepts,” a paper Biko gave at the Interdenominational Association of African Ministers of Religion in 1971, encourages Black people to develop pride in African culture. Taking pride in Blackness is central to the BCM, which is the subject of Chapter 9, “The Definition of Black Consciousness.” Written for a SASO leadership training course, Biko defines Black Consciousness as a change in outlook that requires Black unity, valorizes Blackness, and is necessary for emancipation.

Chapters 10-12 were written for three distinctive audiences, highlighting the reach of Biko’s ideas within South Africa. Chapter 10, “The Church as seen by a Young Layman,” addresses Black Christian ministers; Chapter 11, “White Racism and Black Consciousness,” was written for an academic audience; and Chapter 12, “Fear—An Important Determinant in South African Politics,” is a newsletter article for SASO members. Despite focusing on different issues—Christianity, racism, Black Consciousness, and fear—the chapters are linked by the theme of The Importance of Pride and Black Consciousness, a central goal of SASO and the BCM.

Chapters 13-16 differ in content and tone, but dovetail in certain ways. Chapter 13, “Let’s talk about Bantustans,” is a critique of autonomous Black territories called Bantustans. Biko presents Bantustans as Tools of Government Control created to oppress and exclude Black people. By contrast, Chapter 16, “The Righteousness of our Strength,” presents the creation of a Black-run South African state as an alternative to the current system of governance. Biko revisits the theme of Black Consciousness in Chapter 14, “Black Consciousness and the Quest for a True Humanity,” and again in Chapter 15, “What is Black Consciousness?” The former stresses the links between the BCM and a theology that prioritizes Black people’s needs, while the latter presents the movement as necessary for the fight for racial equality.

Biko’s book concludes with three outward-oriented chapters. Chapter 17, “American Policy towards Azania,” is a memorandum to a US senator that focuses on what America can do to support a Black-run South Africa. Similarly, Chapter 18, “Our Strategy for Liberation,” is an interview with a European journalist that alerts the international community to the plight of Black South Africans. The book ends with an interview Biko gave to an American businessman describing his torture at the hands of South African police in 1976 and the politicization of death.