Steve Biko

Steve Biko (Steven Biko) , 1946-77, South African political leader. A medical student, he founded (1969) a black student organization and developed a national "black consciousness" movement to combat racism and apartheid policies. Arrested in 1977, he died in police custody, prompting international protests and a UN arms embargo. In 1997 five former policemen admitted killing him.

Biko, Steve ( Stephen) (1946–77) South African political activist. In 1969 Biko founded the South African Students Organization. In 1972 he co-founded the Black People's Convention, a black consciousness movement. In 1973 the apartheid regime severely curtailed his freedoms of speech and association. Biko died in police custody at Port Elizabeth and became a symbol of the cruelty and injustice of apartheid.

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Biko, Steve (1946–77) South African civil rights activist and student leader. A medical student at the University of Natal, he was co-founder and President of the all-Black South African Students Association, whose aim was to raise Black consciousness. Active in the Black People's Convention, he was banned and then arrested on numerous occasions (1973–76). His death in custody, by falling from a window at police headquarters in Pretoria (officially suicide but widely regarded as murder), made him a hero and martyr. Following disclosures about his maltreatment in prison, the South African government prohibited numerous Black organizations and detained newspaper editors, thus provoking international anger. In post-apartheid South Africa, police officers giving evidence before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1997 continued to maintain that Biko's death was not murder.