The Black Consciousness Psychology of Steve Biko

Steve Biko’s Black Consciousness (BC) created the basis of psychological inoculation against the degradation of apartheid, influencing generations of youth from the late 1960s to steel themselves against unremitting brutality and repression and the insidious diminution of self and identity in South Africa (SA). The apartheid ideology and BC have left indelible imprints on the psyche and behaviour of SA. Contextualising the liberatory influence of BC on the anti-apartheid struggle and its relevance in a democratic era, the chapter traverses Biko’s life and times, connecting the latter to the current ferment in SA. Focusing on the advent of BC theory and praxis, it proffers a basis for the denouement of true humanism in our complex multicultural world where equality, equity and freedom continue to elude us.