We are concerned with that curious bunch of nonconformists who explain their participation in negative terms: that bunch of do-gooders that goes under all sorts of names - liberals, leftists, etc. These are the people who argue that they are not responsible for white racism and the country's 'inhumanity to the black man.'
Interpretation
This quote critiques individuals who distance themselves from societal issues while labeling themselves as do-gooders.
In this quote, Steven Biko addresses a group of individuals who label themselves as do-gooders or liberals, suggesting that their inability to take responsibility for societal issues like racism reflects a deeper unwillingness to engage with real problems. Biko criticizes these nonconformists for their tendency to participate in social justice discussions without acknowledging their own roles in perpetuating systemic issues, instead framing themselves as detached observers of societal failings rather than active agents of change.
In practice
In a speech about social justice, one might cite this quote to highlight the importance of active engagement in racial issues.
It becomes more necessary to see the truth as it is if you realise that the only vehicle for change are these people who have lost their personality. The first step therefore is to make the black man come to himself; to pump back life into his empty shell; to infuse him with pride and dignity, to remind him of his complicity in the crime of allowing himself to be misused and therefore letting evil reign supreme in the country of his birth.
We do not want to be reminded that it is we, the indigenous people, who are poor and exploited in the land of our birth. These are concepts which the Black Consciousness approach wishes to eradicate from the black man's mind before our society is driven to chaos by irresponsible people from Coca-cola and hamburger cultural backgrounds.
When you say 'Black is beautiful' you are saying, 'Man you are okay as you are, begin to look upon yourself as a human being'.
I'm going to be me as I am, and you can beat me or jail me or even kill me, but I'm not going to be what you want me to be.
Black Consciousness is an attitude of the mind and a way of life, the most positive call to emanate from the black world for a long time. Its essence is the realisation by the black man of the need to rally together with his brothers around the cause of their oppression - the blackness of their skin - and to operate as a group to rid themselves of the shackles that bind them to perpetual servitude.
The most potent weapon of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.
I do not say think as I think, but think in my way. Fear no shadows, least of all in that great spectre of personal unhappiness which binds half the world to orthodoxy.
Islam is itself destiny and will not suffer destiny.
The Unitarian Church has done more than any other church to substitute character for creed, and to say that a man should be judged by his spirit; by the climate of his heart; by the autumn of his generosity; by the spring of his hope; that he should be judged by what he does; by the influence that he exerts, rather than by the mythology he may believe.
Let us respect others no one lives alone in a city, a nation, or a world.
People were excited by violence. What, after all, was the sexual act but a voluntarily endured assault, a momentary death?
I like a view but I like to sit with my back turned to it.
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