Today is the anniversary of Steve Biko’s brutal death in 1977 at the hands of the apartheid government of South Africa. Anti-apartheid activist and founder of the Black Consciousness Movement, Steve Biko was one of the most inspiring and effective young activists of the last century. So inspiring and effective that the South African government decided he had to be eliminated. But as the article linked below shows, his influence has lived on.

A recent conversation with a former student has prompted me to share once again an essay in the Ottawa Citizen that I shared some years ago on FeministLawProfs. The author of the essay wrote:

It amazes me that a man I never met, who lived a vastly different life half a world away, influenced my life as much as he did — and in ways that Biko himself never would have expected. For one thing, he helped turn me into a feminist.

Full essay here.

Information about Biko, including footage of a rare film interview, here. Click “media library” near the top for audio of additional interviews.

Cross-posted on IntLawGrrls