Biko Quotes

• At the time of his death, Biko had a wife and three children for which he left a letter that stated in one part: “I've devoted my life to see equality for blacks, and at the same time, I've denied the needs of my family. Please understand that I take these actions, not out of selfishness or arrogance, but to preserve a South Africa worth living in for blacks and whites.

  Steven Biko

  Children, Wife, Arrogance

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• It is the dictate of history to bring to the fore the kind of leaders who seize the moment, who cohere the wishes and aspirations of the oppressed. Such was Steve Biko, a fitting product of his time; a proud representative of the re-awakening of a people.

  Nelson Mandela

  People, Leader, Wish

  Nelson Mandela (2011). “Nelson Mandela By Himself: The Authorised Book of Quotations”, p.217, Pan Macmillan

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• My grandfather was a member of Parliament for 40 years. Obviously we're talking here South Africa, a whites only parliament. I grew up in a family that was very involved with the legal battles against apartheid—the great treason trials in the 1950s and early '60s, and later with the legal resources center that my mother founded. My father was involved with a number of very prominent cases that had political aspects to them, whether it was the inquest into the Sharpeville Massacre, the death of Steve Biko, or one of the trials of Nelson Mandela.

  William Kentridge

  Mother, Father, Talking

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• Once the flames begin to catch the wind will blow it higher, oh Biko, Biko.

  Peter Gabriel

  Blow, Flames, Wind

  Song: Biko

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• Sometimes when you're the good guy, you're sort of trapped. "Oh, he can't say that." And even when you're playing a real person like a Steven Biko, you're sort of stuck within those confines. So yeah, bad guys do have more fun.

  Denzel Washington

  Fun, Real, Guy

  "Safe House: A Conversation With Denzel Washington". Interview with Prairie Miller, newsblaze.com. February 04, 2012.

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