Stephen Biko By: Mariam 9D

Stephen Biko was born in King William’s Town, South Africa on December 18, He was the third child in an average family where his father was a cashier and his mother was a maid. Although Biko’s father died when he was only four years old. Biko died in September 12, Who?

Where? Biko was born in Tylden in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. He attended a primary school in King William's Town as for secondary school he went to Marianhill which was a missionary school. Steve Biko continued on to apply for a degree in medicine at the Black Section of the Medical School of the University of Natal in Biko became involved in the NUSAS (National Union Of South African Students), a multiracial politically moderate organization.

Why? While Biko was in Natal he started to question the apartheid system and the conditions that his people were forced to endure. Biko became more and more involved in the daily difficulties that the Blacks had to put up with and he decided to quit medical school.

What? In 1968, Biko became the cofounder and first president of the all-Black South African Students’ Organization (SASO) his goal was to raise black awareness in South Africa through lectures and community activities.

When? On August 18, 1977 Biko was arrested by the police. He was put under the act of Terrorism. This law had stopped freedom of over 40,000 Blacks in South Africa since The law permitted the police to hold Biko in jail indefinitely however Biko was held in prison for twenty-four days were he was interrogated, starved, and brutally beaten. On September 12, 1977, Biko became the 41 st person in South Africa to die while being held in the custody of the South African Police.

How? The South African government claimed that Stephen Biko’s death was caused by a hunger strike and claimed their innocence. The Minister of Police, Jimmy Kruger, quoted: "Biko's death leaves me cold." However it was concluded that Biko’s death was caused by brain lesion that happened due to a strong force in the head.

Biko’s death had a great effect on the people of South Africa and the world. His funeral was attended by more than 15,000 mourners. Steve Biko’s legacy lives on through the struggle that he helped to escape and through the freedoms that South Africans now hold. What caused him to become a revolutionary was that when he realized how the treatment was with the Blacks and how a lot of the Blacks were not happy about the apartheid system. This had caused him to rebel and start to do something about it to help his people. He spoke for a very important cause.