Quote

The system concedes nothing without demand, for it formulates its very method of operation on the basis that the ignorant will learn to know, the child will grow into an adult and therefore demands will begin to be made. It gears itself to resist demands in whatever way it sees fit.

Steven Biko

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Steven Biko
Age: 30 †
Born: 1946
Born: December 18
Died: 1977
Died: September 12
Activist
Civil Rights Advocate
Politician
Trade Unionist
Writer
Amsterdam
Netherlands
Bantu Stephen Biko
Child
Method
Adult
Whatever
Adults
Operations
Learn
Demand
Demands
Without
Begin
Basis
Formulates
Nothing
Therefore
Sees
Concedes
Children
Grow
Ignorant
Gears
Made
System
Bases
Operation
Way
Grows
Fit
Resist

More quotes by Steven Biko

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Part of the approach envisaged in bringing about Black Consciousness has to be directed to the past, to seek to rewrite the history of the black man and to produce in it the heroes who form the core of the African background
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We believe in the inherent goodness of man.
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The oneness of community for instance is at the heart of our culture.
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Tradition has it that whenever a group of people has tasted the lovely fruits of wealth, security and prestige it begins to find it more comfortable to believe in the obvious lie and accept that it alone is entitled to privilege.
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I think the central theme about black society is that it has got elements of a defeated society
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Change the way people think and things will never be the same
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The basic tenet of black consciousness is that the black man must reject all value systems that seek to make him a foreigner in the country of his birth and reduce his basic human dignity.
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In time, we shall be in a position to bestow on South Africa the greatest possible gift - a more human face.
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It becomes more necessary to see the truth as it is if you realize that the only vehicle for change are these people who have lost their personality.
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I am against the fact that a settler minority should impose an entire system of values on an indigenous people.
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The logic behind white domination is to prepare the black man for the subservient role in this country.
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The essence of politics is to direct oneself to the group which wields power
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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.
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The most potent weapon of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.
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Black Consciousness is in essence the realization by the black man of the need to rally together with his brothers around the cause of their oppression.
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This is white man's integration, an integration based on exploitative values
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Sure there are a few good whites just as much as there are a few bad Blacks. However what we are concerned here with is group attitudes and group politics. The exception does not make a lie or the rule - it merely substantiates it.
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A people without a positive history is like a vehicle without an engine.
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It is better to die for an idea that will live, than to live for an idea that will die.
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If one is free at heart, no man-made chains can bind one to servitude.
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