Editing Steve Biko (section)

===Black Consciousness activities and Biko's banning: 1971–1977===
====Black People's Convention====
In August 1971, Biko attended a conference on "The Development of the African Community" in [[Edendale, KwaZulu-Natal|Edendale]].{{sfn|Mangcu|2014|p=185}} There, a resolution was presented calling for the formation of the [[Black People's Convention]] (BPC), a vehicle for the promotion of Black Consciousness among the wider population. Biko voted in favour of the group's creation but expressed reservations about the lack of consultation with South Africa's Coloureds or Indians.{{sfnm|1a1=Woods|1y=1978|1p=97|2a1=Mangcu|2y=2014|2pp=186–187}} A. Mayatula became the BPC's first president; Biko did not stand for any leadership positions.{{sfn|Mangcu|2014|p=188}} The group was formally launched in July 1972 in [[Pietermaritzburg]].{{sfn|Mangcu|2014|p=188}} By 1973, it had 41 branches and 4000 members, sharing much of its membership with SASO.{{sfn|Mangcu|2014|p=189}}

{{Quote box
| quote = My major problem at this moment is a strange kind of guilt. So many friends of mine have been arrested for activities in something that I was most instrumental in starting. A lot of them are blokes I spoke into the movement. And yet I am not with them. One does not think this way in political life of course. Casualties are expected and should be bargained for.
| source=— Steve Biko{{sfn|Mangcu|2014|p=211}}
| align = left
| width = 25em
}}

While the BPC was primarily political, Black Consciousness activists also established the Black Community Programmes (BCPs) to focus on improving healthcare and education and fostering black economic self-reliance.{{sfn|Hadfield|2010|p=83}} The BCPs had strong ecumenical links, being part-funded by a program on Christian action, established by the [[Christian Institute of Southern Africa]] and the [[South African Council of Churches]].{{sfn|Hadfield|2010|p=83}} Additional funds came from the [[Anglo American plc|Anglo-American Corporation]], the International University Exchange Fund, and Scandinavian churches.{{sfn|Hadfield|2010|p=84}} In 1972, the BCP hired Biko and [[Bokwe Mafuna]], allowing Biko to continue his political and community work.{{sfn|Hadfield|2010|p=84}} In September 1972, Biko visited [[Kimberley, Northern Cape|Kimberley]], where he met the PAC founder and anti-apartheid activist [[Robert Sobukwe]].{{sfnm|1a1=Woods|1y=1978|1p=152|2a1=Mangcu|2y=2014|2p=119}}

Biko's banning order in 1973 prevented him from working officially for the BCPs from which he had previously earned a small stipend, but he helped to set up a new BPC branch in Ginsberg, which held its first meeting in the church of a sympathetic white clergyman, [[David Russell (bishop)|David Russell]].{{sfn|Mangcu|2014|pp=205, 215}} Establishing a more permanent headquarters in Leopold Street, the branch served as a base from which to form new BCPs; these included self-help schemes such as classes in literacy, dressmaking and health education.{{sfnm|1a1=Woods|1y=1978|1pp=56–57|2a1=Hadfield|2y=2010|2p=84}} For Biko, community development was part of the process of infusing black people with a sense of pride and dignity.{{sfn|Hadfield|2010|p=80}} Near King William's Town, a BCP Zanempilo Clinic was established to serve as a healthcare centre catering for rural black people who would not otherwise have access to hospital facilities.{{sfnm|1a1=Woods|1y=1978|1p=57|2a1=Hadfield|2y=2010|2p=79|3a1=Mangcu|3y=2014|3pp=218–221}} He helped to revive the Ginsberg crèche, a daycare for children of working mothers,{{sfn|Mangcu|2014|p=227}} and establish a Ginsberg education fund to raise bursaries for promising local students.{{sfnm|1a1=Bernstein|1y=1978|1p=9|2a1=Mangcu|2y=2014|2p=224}} He helped establish Njwaxa Home Industries, a leather goods company providing jobs for local women.{{sfn|Mangcu|2014|p=222}} In 1975, he co-founded the Zimele Trust, a fund for the families of political prisoners.{{sfnm|1a1=Bernstein|1y=1978|1p=9|2a1=Woods|2y=1978|2p=69}}

Biko endorsed the unification of South Africa's black liberationist groups{{snd}}among them the BCM, PAC, and [[African National Congress]] (ANC){{snd}}in order to concentrate their anti-apartheid efforts.{{sfn|Mangcu|2014|p=234}} To this end, he reached out to leading members of the ANC, PAC, and [[Unity Movement (South Africa)|Unity Movement]].{{sfn|Mangcu|2014|p=244}} His communications with the ANC were largely via [[Griffiths Mxenge]],{{sfn|Mangcu|2014|p=244}} and plans were being made to smuggle him out of the country to meet [[Oliver Tambo]], a leading ANC figure.{{sfn|Mangcu|2014|p=245}} Biko's negotiations with the PAC were primarily through intermediaries who exchanged messages between him and Sobukwe;{{sfn|Mangcu|2014|p=246}} those with the Unity Movement were largely via [[Fikile Bam]].{{sfn|Mangcu|2014|pp=247–148}}

====Banning order====
By 1973, the government regarded Black Consciousness as a threat.{{sfn|Hadfield|2010|p=94}} It sought to disrupt Biko's activities, and in March 1973 placed a [[banning order]] on him. This prevented him from leaving the King William's Town magisterial district, prohibited him from speaking either in public or to more than one person at a time, barred his membership of political organisations, and forbade the media from quoting him.{{sfnm|1a1=Woods|1y=1978|1p=49|2a1=Mangcu|2y=2014|2p=190|3a1=Hadfield|3y=2010|3p=84|4a1=Hill|4y=2015|4p=151}} As a result, he returned to Ginsberg, living initially in his mother's house and later in his own residence.{{sfn|Mangcu|2014|pp=204, 212}}

[[File:Steve Biko House.jpg|thumbnail|right|Steve Biko's house in Ginsberg, Eastern Cape|alt=A small, detached one-story house. The walls are a pale colour, and the roof is made from corrugated iron.]]

In December 1975, attempting to circumvent the restrictions of the banning order, the BPC declared Biko their honorary president.{{sfnm|1a1=Bernstein|1y=1978|1p=9|2a1=Wilson|2y=2012|2p=122|3a1=Mangcu|3y=2014|3p=190}} After Biko and other BCM leaders were banned, a new leadership arose, led by [[Muntu Myeza]] and [[Sathasivian Cooper]], who were considered part of the [[Durban Moment]].{{sfn|Mangcu|2014|pp=191–192}} Myeza and Cooper organised a BCM demonstration to mark [[Mozambique]]'s [[Mozambican War of Independence|independence from Portuguese colonial rule]] in 1975.{{sfn|Mangcu|2014|p=192}} Biko disagreed with this action, correctly predicting that the government would use it to crack down on the BCM.{{sfn|Mangcu|2014|p=192}} The government arrested around 200 BCM activists,{{sfn|Mangcu|2014|p=193}} nine of whom were brought before the Supreme Court, accused of subversion by intent. The state claimed that Black Consciousness philosophy was likely to cause "racial confrontation" and therefore threatened public safety. Biko was called as a witness for the defence; he sought to refute the state's accusations by outlining the movement's aims and development.{{sfnm|1a1=Woods|1y=1978|1p=114|2a1=Mangcu|2y=2014|2pp=193–194|3a1=Hill|3y=2015|3pp=36–37}} Ultimately, the accused were convicted and imprisoned on [[Maximum Security Prison, Robben Island|Robben Island]].{{sfn|Woods|1978|p=158}}

In 1973, Biko had enrolled for a law degree by correspondence from the University of South Africa. He passed several exams, but had not completed the degree at his time of death.{{sfnm|1a1=Woods|1y=1978|1pp=69, 116|2a1=Mangcu|2y=2014|2pp=189–190, 213}} His performance on the course was poor; he was absent from several exams and failed his Practical Afrikaans module.{{sfn|Mangcu|2014|pp=213–214}} The state security services repeatedly sought to intimidate him; he received anonymous threatening phone calls,{{sfn|Woods|1978|pp=77–78}} and gun shots were fired at his house.{{sfn|Woods|1978|p=78}} A group of young men calling themselves 'The Cubans' began guarding him from these attacks.{{sfn|Mangcu|2014|p=228}} The security services detained him four times, once for 101 days.{{sfn|Woods|1978|p=76}} With the ban preventing him from gaining employment, the strained economic situation impacted his marriage.{{sfn|Mangcu|2014|p=205}}

[[File:Zuidafrikaan Donald Woods op Schiphol in verband met Nederlandse vertaling van z, Bestanddeelnr 929-8037.jpg|thumb|left|Biko became a close friend of white liberal activist Donald Woods, who wrote a book about Biko after his death.|alt=A black and white photograph of a middle-aged white man. He has grey hair and is wearing a black suit and tie. He is sitting at a table, and in front of him are two upright books; both feature the face of Steve Biko, a young black man.]]

During his ban, Biko asked for a meeting with [[Donald Woods]], the white liberal editor of the ''[[Daily Dispatch]]''. Under Woods' editorship, the newspaper had published articles criticising apartheid and the white-minority regime and had also given space to the views of various black groups, but not the BCM. Biko hoped to convince Woods to give the movement greater coverage and an outlet for its views.{{sfn|Woods|1978|p=55}} Woods was initially reticent, believing that Biko and the BCM advocated "for racial exclusivism in reverse".{{sfn|Woods|1978|pp=45, 48}} When he met Biko for the first time, Woods expressed his concern about the anti-white liberal sentiment of Biko's early writings. Biko acknowledged that his earlier "antiliberal" writings were "overkill", but said that he remained committed to the basic message contained within them.{{sfn|Woods|1978|p=54}}

Over the coming years the pair became close friends.{{sfn|Woods|1978|p=56}} Woods later related that, although he continued to have concerns about "the unavoidably racist aspects of Black Consciousness", it was "both a revelation and education" to socialise with blacks who had "psychologically emancipated attitudes".{{sfn|Woods|1978|pp=57, 58}} Biko also remained friends with another prominent white liberal, [[Duncan Innes]], who served as NUSAS President in 1969; Innes later commented that Biko was "invaluable in helping me to understand black oppression, not only socially and politically, but also psychologically and intellectually".{{sfn|Macqueen|2013|p=376}} Biko's friendship with these white liberals came under criticism from some members of the BCM.{{sfnm|1a1=Woods|1y=1978|1p=88|2a1=Macqueen|2y=2013|2p=375}}
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