Biko

Book excerpt: The groundbreaking biography that inspired the film Cry Freedom: “A personal testament to a powerful, tragic figure” who led the movement against apartheid (The New York Times Book Review). As the founder of the Black Consciousness Movement, Steve Biko fought to end apartheid and establish universal suffrage in South Africa. As his movement grew, the National Party government began to see him as a threat. On August 13, 1977, Biko was arrested, interrogated, and severely beaten. On September 12, he died in prison. Editor of a leading anti-apartheid paper, Donald Woods was a friend of Steve Biko and went into exile in order to write his testimony about the life and work of a remarkable man. “Courageous and passionate . . . Mr. Woods’s brave attack on the shabby and ultimately murderous expedients of a society dominated by fear and greed should serve as both an inspiration and a warning.” —Christopher Hampton in The Sunday Times