I Write What I Like

Uplifting Black South Africans after centuries of colonial oppression was one of the primary goals of the BCM. According to Biko, the Father of Black Consciousness, ending self-hatred was the first step to achieving emancipation. Through embracing and celebrating Black history, culture, and identity, Biko believed that Black South Africans could form a united front and achieve lasting social and political emancipation.

Pride in Blackness eroded as white colonizers imposed their culture on indigenous populations. The church became a prime instrument of cultural domination, with missionaries spreading a rigid form of Christianity that emphasized self-blame and sin. Acculturation also manifested itself linguistically with the imposition of English and Afrikaans as South Africa’s two official languages. Acculturation also appeared in various customs, including forms of dress and social etiquette.

Centuries of colonialism in South Africa entrenched cultural hierarchies, with “superior” Anglo-Boer culture dominating “inferior” African culture. Indeed, African culture became synonymous with barbarism. Furthermore, it became common to refer to Africa as the “dark continent,” casting it as a backward place to justify colonialism. Precolonial religious beliefs were dismissed as superstition. Moreover, the history of Africa was reduced to internecine wars and tribal conflicts. For Biko, these negative views of African culture deeply impacted Black people’s self-esteem: “No wonder the African child learns to hate his heritage in his days at school. So negative is the image presented to him that he tends to find solace only in close identification with the white society” (29).

Unlike many of his contemporaries, Biko did not see African culture as a thing of the past. African culture did not end abruptly in 1652, when Dutch settlers first landed on the Cape. Rather, a process of acculturation occurred, with the Anglo-Boer culture of the colonizers dominating local culture. In Biko’s view, however, remnants of the “pure” African culture of the precolonial era continued to thrive in contemporary African society, including the importance of music and rhythm, a closeness to nature, and a “Man-centered” society that values community over individuality.

Biko urged Black people to stop rejecting their Blackness and emulating white people, and instead to elevate African culture. This re-awakening had to be driven by Black people. Pride in Blackness was central to the BCM, which sought “to infuse the black community with a new-found pride in themselves, their efforts, their value systems, their culture, their religion and their outlook to life” (49). Black Consciousness spread quickly among Black South Africans, creating a culture of defiance and assertion, as well as fostering group pride. According to Biko, this shift was the crucial step for the emancipation of Black people.