/ 14 February 1997

Biko in his own words reissued

Anthony Egan

STEVE BIKO: I WRITE WHAT I LIKE – A SELECTION OF HIS WRITINGS edited by Aelred Stubbs (Ravan, R49,99)

HAD he not been murdered by security police in 1977, Steve Biko would be 50 no w. Where he would have stood in today’s political environment is anybody’s gue ss, but in the end all we have left is his intellectual legacy. This new editi on of his writings is to be welcomed. Biko’s political philosophy still has so mething to teach a world where ethnicity and cultural pride have often been hi jacked by crude ethnic nationalism. He deserves to be remembered as more than a supporti ng movie character played by Denzel Washington.