"The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed."(Biko- Statement as witness at Cape Town Conference) These are the famous words of Steve Biko. This individual was an anti-apartheid activist who as a strong leader was brave, encouraging and challenging. .
Steve Biko attended junior school at Charles Morgan where he was to make his mark as one of the most promising learners. He had an outstanding performance. Steve was to attend his senior secondary studies at Forbes Grant High School. Again because of his academic performance he held regular evening classes for his classmates as a volunteer. In 1963 he was admitted to Lovedale but was expelled in the same year as a result of the political activities of his brother, Khaya Biko. Khaya was a member of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) and had tried to recruit Steve unsuccessfully. The expulsion was to mark the turning point of Steve's life. He stared to show an interest in anti-Apartheid politics. By 1972 Biko was one of the founders of the Black Peoples Convention (BPC) working on social upliftment projects around Durban, he then became elected as the first president of the BPC. Later the Apartheid government banned him. On 21 August 1977 Biko was detained by the Eastern Cape security police and held in Port Elizabeth. However, Biko was not a coward, even in jail when he was about to be beaten by the officers he said to them .
"Listen if you guys want to do this your way, you have got to handcuff me and bind my feet together, so that I can't respond. If you allow me to respond, I"m certainly going to respond. And I"m afraid you may have to kill me in the process even if it's not your intention" (Biko On Death-19).
Biko shows that he is brave and although he does not advocate violence, he will react to violence. Unlike Martin Luther King Jr. who does not support violence and will not react to violence.
Steve Biko, is widely seen as the greatest martyr of the anti-apartheid movement.
