Artistic Confetti: Biko 78

oil and paper on board 4x6

By: Stephen Bess

I did this piece in 2005 in honor of Stephen Biko. Peace~

In Honor Of Black History

This is a poem that one of my good friends in Georgia wrote yesterday. I call him the Fresh Prince of the town that he lives because of his name, Will Smith. :)
We were tighter than Thelma's pants on Good Times when we were in college at Savannah State. Now, we're brothers and most of all family. This is his poetry dedicated to Black History and the Black experience.




BLACK ALL THE TIME



38 YEARS HAVE PASSED ME BY
STILL THE SAME COLOR, I USED NO DYE
I CELEBRATE MY HISTORY 365 DAYS OF THE YEAR
I AM STILL BLACK WITHOUT ANY FEAR

EVERY HOUR, MINUTE AND SECOND OF THE DAYS
I WILL STAY STRONG AND TRUE TO MY BLACK WAYS
NO ONE CAN PUT A TIME FRAME ON WHEN TO CELEBRATE OUR LEGACY
THEREFORE, MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS LET US REJOICE BEYOND FEBRUARY

BORN BLACK WITH A PURPOSE AND PROUD TO BE DOWN
GLAD TO LET THE WORLD HEAR MY CRY AND HEAR MY JOYOUS SOUND
BECAUSE THE LAST TIME I CHECKED, BLACKNESS IS MINE
SO DON’T LOOK AT ME WITH CROSSED-EYES…
I AM BLACK ALL THE TIME.


WILL SMITH
FEBRUARY 8, 2006

SASO and The Black Consciousness Movement

1968 marked the year that Stephen Biko would break off from the NUSAS (National Union of South African Students) to form SASO (South African Students’ Organization). At the age of 22 Stephen Biko seemed to be ordained by God to undertake the task of liberation for South Africa against Apartheid. Perhaps his inspiration and drive came from the likes of Nelson Mandela or Robert Sobukwe who were both already jailed for their participation in the fight for Freedom. Nevertheless, Steve Biko, the President of SASO, launched a polemical campaign to expose the injustices against Blacks in South Africa. He started a monthly newsletter with the organization and wrote a column titled, I Write What I Like. He operated under the nom de guerre, “Frank Talk.”
The writings of Frank Talk were published in the SASO newsletter between 1969-1972. This would ignite the beginning of the Black Consciousness movement in South Africa. Stephen was later silenced in 1973 and forbidden to write or speak in an opened forum. However, the movement had already gained momentum among the people in the townships and squatter camps (especially the students). The Black Conscious movement was not only designed to expose the injustices of Apartheid, but to also kindle and make conscious a beaten and troubled people under an evil and oppressive regime. Stephen Biko would become its most electrifying and devoted soldier.

"The philosophy of Black Consciousness therefore expresses group pride and the determination of the black to rise and attain the envisaged self. Freedom is the abliltiy to define oneself with one's possibilities held back not by the powre of other people over one but only by one's relationship to God and to natural surroundings." (Stephen Biko, I Write What I Like)