I Write What I Like

“What we want is not black visibility but real black participation.”

Biko founded SASO in response to his dissatisfaction with NUSAS, a liberal organization that professed to speak on behalf of students of all races, but that largely ignored the needs of its Black members. In contrast to NUSAS, which focused on including Black students, but not supporting or empowering them, SASO was an all-Black organization that not only centered the needs of Black students, but also gave them bargaining power.

“We have a responsibility not only to ourselves but also to the society from which we spring.”

Biko’s aim with SASO was not just to unite and empower Black students across South Africa, but to effect change in the broader community. His writings emphasize the theme of The Role of Solidarity and pride as means of creating a more equitable society.

“The blacks are tired of standing at the touchlines to witness a game that they should be playing. They want to do things for themselves and all by themselves.”

This quote captures Biko’s dissatisfaction with liberal bilateralism, the primary reason he left NUSAS and founded SASO. Biko objected to liberal forms of integration, arguing that they were dominated by white students with paternalistic attitudes toward Black students. One of his aims with SASO was to create an all-Black organization that empowered Black people to effect change without input from white people, centering instead The Importance of Pride and Black Consciousness.