Political consolidations, if done properly, are the lifeblood of both opposition and ruling party life, writes Hlumelo Biko.
From apartheid South Africa to the Palestinian plight, slam poet Remi Kanazi’s words highlight social inequality and its effects on humanity.
As Julius Malema’s beret gains in popularity locally, Percy Zvomuya takes a look at the political significance of different headgear.
In September we remembered significant quotes by Steve Bantu Biko. On what would have been his 67th birthday, we revisit his influence on politics.
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As SA observes the 36th anniversary of Steve Biko’s death, Khaya Dlanga spotlights a new black consciousness – a move away from "izinto zabelungu".
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When is a hero a hero? It would seem South Africans can only agree about one undisputed icon – and that’s former president Nelson Mandela.
Steve Biko’s vibrant, liberating philosophy is the only solution to the vexed ‘national question’, writes Andile Mngxitama.
There is already too much violence in our politics. Public intellectuals have a responsibility to denounce violence, say readers.
Mail & Guardian readers respond to Jared Sacks’s article titled ‘Biko would not vote for Ramphele’.
Were he alive today, the Black Consciousness activist would be one of Mamphela Ramphele’s most ardent critics, says Jared Sacks.
Steve Biko’s intentions were that black people should stand up for themselves and know themselves in their full power as participants in the world.
The recently launched Steve Biko Centre will bring people together in a way Biko would have applauded, says Azapo’s Mosibudi Mangena.
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Xolela Mangcu says Andile Mngxitama’s take on his writings about Steve Biko shows Mngxitama’s ‘contempt for black communities’.
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Biographies are notorious for revealing more about their authors than their subjects. Biko: A Biography by Xolela Mangcu falls into this category.
Thank you to Andile Mng-xitama for "A dream not deferred, but defiled" (September 14).
The NY1 road in Gugulethu, Cape Town, has been officially renamed Stephen Biko Drive.
While the world was tweeting about the new iPhone on Wednesday, South Africans were sharing thoughts about Steve Biko on Twitter.
In commemorating the 35th anniversary of the death of Steve Biko it is time to return to the politics of respect, consciousness and participation.
Remembering Steve Biko is increasingly becoming an act of "death by memory", as Gail Smith has observed, writes Andile Mngxitama.
Where have we gone wrong, asks Simphiwe Dana, in an open letter to Black Consciousness activist Steve Biko on the 35th anniversary of his death.
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The complex world of South Africa’s favourite thinking diva.
The ANC is accused of rewriting the past to give itself the starring role in the struggle.
There has been little real progress towards Africanising our education system.
African-American writer Alice Walker is the first speaker from outside Africa to speak at the Steve Biko Memorial Lecture.
Author Alice Walker will visit South Africa for the first time in September this year to deliver the 11th Steve Biko Memorial Lecture.
I am not about to give up on ”darkies” or offer nails for the coffin of black leadership.
Kwanele Sosibo asks Thando Mama about how his work is received and the commercial viability of video art.
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/ 31 December 2007
Disguised as an Irish priest and taking advantage of the New Year festivities, Donald Woods launched a dramatic escape 30 years ago to expose one of South Africa’s most notorious apartheid crimes. As the country prepared to ring in the new year, the white liberal editor managed to evade house arrest and cross over into the tiny kingdom of Lesotho.
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/ 6 December 2007
Holding the reigns of the ox-wagon that is pulling his father’s coffin, Nkosinathi Biko sits alone and solemnly among the masses of people. Surrounded by a throng of supporters, angry and tearful, he cuts a figure of solitude. A hero of the struggle is dead — but now lives on through the work of the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg.
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/ 2 December 2007
Tens of thousands of people filed into Ellis Park Stadium on Saturday for a 10-hour music extravaganza beamed to millions around the globe for World Aids Day. The concert at the 50 000-seater stadium got under way in the afternoon and lasted late into the night, with 30 local and international artists performing, ranging from Ludacris to Peter Gabriel.
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/ 14 October 2007
October 15 marks the 20th anniversary of the assassination of Thomas Sankara, the president of Burkina Faso — a stark reminder that we are still in the state Odinga Oginga called Not Yet Uhuru. We will be remembering that if Africa suffers today, it is because yesterday its best political minds, and its most fiery and committed sons and daughters, were assassinated.
Those who fought against apartheid are not everyone’s heroes, the Afrikanerbond said on Tuesday. ”These heroes from the ‘struggle’ past are not the only heroes and definitely not everyone’s heroes,” said Afrikanerbond managing director Jan Bosman.