I Write What I Like

The Introduction of I Write What I Like lays the groundwork for the rest of the book by familiarizing readers with the author. It consists of a biography of Biko, from his student days at the University of Natal in 1966 until his death in detention in 1977. The Introduction not only provides insights about the arc of Biko’s work as an activist, but also situates the emergence of his activism within the context of radical student politics worldwide (See: Background). In the US, for example, a strong student movement emerged at the University of California, Berkeley in 1964, when civil rights activists chafed at the school’s attempt to prevent them from organizing on campus. Student groups across the country followed Berkeley’s lead and spoke out against various forms of injustice, including the political disenfranchisement of Black people, US foreign policy, and the war in Vietnam. In addition to contextualizing Biko’s activism, the Introduction stresses the extent of Biko’s determination and sacrifice, describing the brutality Biko suffered at the hands of the South African police, who kept Biko naked and manacled throughout his detention and beat him to death.

Chapters 2 and 3 of I Write What I Like serve similar functions, notably, to introduce SASO and its mission. However, the chapters have different intended audiences and thus stress different issues. Chapter 2, a speech Biko gave at the first National Formation School of SASO, addresses likeminded individuals, whereas Chapter 3 was written for outsiders, namely, the SRC presidents of Afrikaans and English universities and national student organizations in South Africa and abroad. Biko inflected each text to suit his audience. Chapter 2 stresses Black achievement by describing white opposition to the establishment of SASO, then outlines the organization’s primary aims, advocating for The Role of Solidarity in Black emancipation by arguing that an all-Black organization is a crucial step to asserting the needs of Black students.

By contrast, Chapter 3 focuses on the problems with older organizations, thereby justifying SASO’s existence to outsiders. Biko argues that organizations like NUSAS are dominated by white people, who treat Black members unequally and ignore Black people’s problems. Biko is direct in his criticisms, but his tone is conciliatory. For example, he tries to ease white people’s anxieties by referring to NUSAS as “the true National Union of students in South Africa today” (13). His tone reveals an awareness of the opposition SASO faced, not just from within South Africa, but also from international organizations from whom he hoped to get funding. His goal in Chapter 3 was to present SASO in positive terms and to clarify that the withdrawal of Black people to a Black-only organization was a necessary step to creating a non-racial, egalitarian society.

Chapters 2 and 3 introduce The Role of Solidarity as a central theme in Biko’s writings. SASO was founded as a Black-run group with an exclusively Black membership, a move Biko describes as “a long overdue step” (4). Furthermore, the fourth aim of the organization, described in both Chapters 2 and 3, relates directly to Black unity and empowerment: “To establish a solid identity amongst non-white students and to ensure that these students are always treated with the dignity and respect they deserve” (5). In Chapter 2, Biko emphasizes that Black people can only rely on themselves to end oppression: “No one else will ever take the challenge up until we, of our own accord, accept the inevitable fact that ultimately the leadership of the non-white people in this country rests with us” (7). Finally, Biko ends Chapter 3 with a strong statement about Black solidarity: “SASO adopts the principle that blacks should work themselves into a powerful group so as to go forth and stake their rightful claim in the open society” (15). In urging Black students to come together and take charge of their own advocacy and needs, Biko offers an alternative to struggling to be heard within white-dominated organizations.