Steve Biko was killed in detention thirty years ago today. A
few months before his final arrest by the South African authorities, he made
these comments in an interview:

"You are either alive and proud or you are dead, and when
you are dead, you can't care anyway. And your method of death can itself be a
politicizing thing. So you die in the riots. For a hell of a lot of them, in
fact, there's really nothing to lose – almost literally, given the kind of circumstances
that they come from. So if you can overcome the personal fear for death, which
is a highly irrational thing, you know, then you're on the way.

And in interrogation the same sort of thing applies. I was
talking to this policeman, and I told him, "If you want us to make any
progress, the best thing is for us to talk. Don't try any form of rough stuff,
because it just won't work." And this is absolutely true also. For I just
couldn't see what they could do to me which would make me all of a sudden soften
to them. If they talk to me, well I'm bound to be affected by them as human
beings. But the moment they adopt rough stuff, they are imprinting in my mind
that they are police. And I only understand one form of dealing with police,
and that's to be as unhelpful as possible. So I button up. And I told them
this: "It's up to you." We had a boxing match the first day I was arrested.
Some guy tried to clout me with a club. I went into him like a bull. I think he
was under instructions to take it so far and no further, and using open hands
so that he doesn't leave any marks on the face. And of course he said exactly
what you were saying just now: "I will kill you." He meant to intimidate. And
my answer was: "How long is it going to take you?" Now of course they were
observing my reaction. And they could see that I was completely unbothered.

If they beat me up, it's to my advantage. I can use it. They
just killed somebody in jail – a friend of mine – about ten days before I was
arrested. Now it would have been bloody useful evidence for them to assault me.
At least it would indicate the kind of possibilities were there, leading to
this guy's death. So I wanted them to go ahead and do what they could do, so
that I could use it. I wasn't really afraid that their violence might lead me
to make revelations I didn't want to make, because I had nothing to reveal on
this particular issue. I was operating from a very good position, and they were
in a very weak position. My attitude is, I'm not going to allow them to carry
out their program faithfully. If they want to beat me five times, they can only
do so on condition that I allow them to beat me five times. If I react sharply,
equally and oppositely, to the first clap, they are not going to be able to
systematically count the next four claps, you see. It's a fight. So if they had
meant to give me so much of a beating, and not more, my idea is to make them go
beyond what they wanted to give me and to give back as much as I can give so
that it becomes an uncontrollable thing. You see the one problem this guy had
with me: he couldn't really fight with me because it meant he must hit back,
like a man. But he was given instructions, you see, on how to hit, and now
these instructions were no longer applying because it was a fight. So he had to
withdraw and get more instructions. So I 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."

-Steve Biko, "On Death," from I Write What I Like.

The BBC has posted their original news item about Biko's death and are also seeking comments, stories, or memories about Steve Biko and Black Consciousness to mark the anniversary.

My review of Cry
Freedom, a movie about the white journalist who befriended Biko and then
had to flee South Africa
to tell his story, was posted at Not Coming to a Theater Near You today, also
to mark the 30th anniversary of Biko's death.