Biko: A Life

by Xolela Mangcu, Nelson Mandela (Foreword by)

Overview

Steve Biko was an exceptional and inspirational leader, a pivotal figure in South African history. As a leading anti-apartheid activist and thinker, Biko created the Black Consciousness Movement, the grassroots organisation which would mobilise a large proportion of the black urban population. His death in police custody at the age of just 30 robbed South Africa of one of its most gifted leaders. Although the rudimentary facts of his life - and death - are well known, there has until now been no in-depth book on this major political figure and the impact of his life and tragic death. Xolela Mangcu, who knew Biko, provides the first in-depth look at the life of one of the most iconic figures of the anti-apartheid movement, whose legacy is still felt strongly today, both in South Africa, and worldwide in the global struggle for civil rights.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780857734204
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	09/20/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Xolela Mangcu is an internationally respected analyst and commentator. He is based at the University of Cape Town and is also a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Nelson Mandela
Preface

1.In My Mind's Eye
2.Steve Biko in the Intellectual History of the Eastern Cape: An African Elite and European Modernity
3.Formative Years in Ginsberg Location, King William's Town
4.Leaving Home: Lovedale, St Francis College
5.The Trouble(s) with NUSAS
6.Steve Biko and the Making of SASO
7.Strategic Leadership and 'Losing Grip': The Black People's Convention
8.Banishment and Homecoming
9.How Steve was Killed
10.Steve Biko's 'Extraordinary Gift of Leadership'

Epilogue: Coming Full Circle
Select Bibliography
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Index

Editorial Reviews

"Promises to transform our understanding of this pivotal figure...Mangcu explores the complexities of his leadersghip and offers a far richer treatment of Biko than we have had thus far." – Henry Louis Gates, Jr, American literary critic, writer, and editor

"Sheds light on the genius of Black Consciousness, a vision of self-reliance as the only real basis for African people's meaningful and creative interaction with the world. Xolela Mangcu has brought Biko back to our lives. A must-read." – Ngugi wa Thiong'o, writer

"A brilliant biography...a landmark in Biko studies." – Jeff Peires, professor at Rhodes University

From the Publisher