A collaborative exhibition between the NWU Gallery and the Black Lawyers Association Student Chapter
Black consciousness in post-apartheid South Africa
Written By: De Niro Koffman
National Academic and Legal Research Officer
Black Lawyers Association Student Chapter
When we hear the words Black Conscious as South Africans, what often comes to mind is Stephen Bantu Biko’s Black Consciousness Movement. Steve Biko, the father of Black Consciousness in South Africa realised the fundamental importance of the mind in any struggle. At a time when Black South Africans were subjected to gross human rights violations and reduced to the status of slaves to the white man, Black Consciousness was a pertinent method of empowerment.
The physical chains which shackled our forefathers were not what deterred them from freedom. The chains could easily be removed and the people could equally revolt against the European settler minority. However, our people were oppressed to such an extent that they believed that they are destined to be inferior to the white man in every way. The systematic oppression was aimed at creating exclusively white institutions in which Black people would be mere servants. The Black Consciousness Movement was mandated to break stereotypes and all false beliefs that had been created by years of oppression by the white man. The movement instilled a sense of pride in Black people allowing them to realise that the colour of your skin does not render you inferior. The superiority complex of white people was a façade to promote the inferiority complex of Black people which would soon follow suit.
The phrase “Black is beautiful” was coined to do away with the idea of beauty that was sold to us. This created a new idea that we are beautiful regardless of the white standards set for us in society. By attacking these stereotypes the masses soon understood that indeed “the most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed”. This famous quote from Steve Biko can be seen as the premise of the entire movement and the empowerment of our people.
Against this background it becomes ever clear that the change from an apartheid regime to a democratic dispensation does not make everything magically disappear. The issues created by this system of oppression are so deeply embedded in us and our institutions that they will likely live much longer than our and many future generations. Black Consciousness in the current context accordingly entails unlearning the inferiority complex we harbour by holding society accountable for its European standards it sets for us. We must question the institutions which were exclusively created for the white minority, such as the institutional culture of the universities of which we form a part. Movements such as #FeesMustFall and calls to decolonise the curriculum resemble the modern notion of Black Consciousness.
We must proceed to restructure society to complement the needs of those who were oppressed through an unjust political system for hundreds of years. We simply cannot continue to accept that we must comply with European standards in Africa. We must decolonise our entire society, but first things first, we must decolonise our minds and unchain our thoughts.