Sandile Memela
The most depressing feature of the commemoration of Steve Biko’s death is neither the monotonous programme nor the predictable political tensions that it unleashes among claimants to his legacy.
Both reveal the inability of self-appointed heirs to update his Black Consciousness philosophy to make it relevant to post-apartheid realities where so-called black people have splintered to different classes and groups..
It is imperative that the 43rd anniversary of Biko’s death begins to push society towards a new state of blackness that acknowledges that black people have never been, or will be, a homogeneous group.
The tendency of a few exponents of Black Consciousness to label fellow human beings as “sell-outs” - because they do not agree with their understanding and interpretation of blackness - is one of the greatest threats to freedom of expression and identity.
No one has the prerogative to use their parochial notion of blackness to blackmail or coerce people to fit into a particular and narrow paradigm of what they consider orthodox blackness, whatever that means.
Black homogeneity and cohesiveness are a myth. For example, we have to acknowledge that the existence of 26 political parties is a deep symptom of black fragmentation and diversity.
Invoking the name of an iconic leader like Biko - or even Nelson Mandela - will not deliver the illusive black homogeneity and unity.
The reality is that in this post-liberation, post-apartheid and non- racial society, this blackness is not only complex and confusing but accessible to everyone who lives in this country, whatever shade of black you are - creatively, socially, intellectually, philosophically and, of course, politically.
The new blackness, if we can call it that, is nothing new. Biko defined it as a “reflection of a mental attitude and not pigmentation” that can be adopted by those that choose to, including people of Indian-descent, so-called coloureds and, if you like Chinese and some Europeans.
This new blackness, if you like, is neither the monopoly of so-called Biko’s heirs nor owned by those that espouse racial essentialism.
In fact, Biko’s understanding and interpretation of blackness has not only been distorted by organisations like Azapo or Black Land First but has, wrongly, been narrowed to issues of skin colour, physical appearance and geographical place of origin.
This is what these self-proclaimed adherents of Black Consciousness understand it to mean: people who possess a particular physical appearance and have been adversely affected by colonialism of a special type, apartheid and its legacy.
But as things stand here and now, this blackness is a fusion of different classes, backgrounds, languages, cultures, ethnic groups and political orientations. In fact, blacks have long splintered into diverse interests groups.
What can unite black, potentially, is commitment to what Biko called, giving the world a human face.
Over the last 43 years, some people have interrogated the certainty and relevance of Black Consciousness as espoused by Biko. The intention is to deepen and broaden its understanding. After all, Biko was only human and not a god.
Today the phenomenon of young black people from elite and middle-class backgrounds called the Cheese Generation are a living expression that blackness is not a monolithic experience but varied, depending on how you choose to define yourself.
A few million blacks, now, live in integrated neighbourhoods that constitute the much-vaunted non-racial society. In fact, to deny them the right to call themselves black - because of their geographic location - would be a development that is worse than apartheid, that aimed to impose narrow, parochial identities on people based on their skin colour or group allegiance.
The South Africa we all inhabit today comprises black people from all over the world, bringing not only other languages and cultures but experiences, perspectives, values and lifestyles as well. This new complex reality means that there is no single organisation or person, now, who has the authority and power to prescribe what constitutes the state of blackness.
Worse, if this elusive and essentialist state of blackness or identity exists, it cannot be static. It is inherently dynamic, forward-moving and undergoing constant change and self-transformation.
Biko’s elder son, Nkosinathi, echoed this sentiment in a letter to his father: “I have very little patience for people who deliberately freeze your process of political thought to the day you died The BC philosophy is perhaps bigger than any single political organisation” or individual. Thus, the 21st Century Blackness is a philosophy that has nothing to do with partisanship. It does not tolerate politics of identity and its preservationists who want to freeze it into the mode of the day Biko died. In fact, it encompasses and integrates the progressive new global generation of young black people who have to confront the complexities of the new world. It is the duty of the progressives to push its boundaries to the limits to absorb the suburban, continental and global experiences.
This includes the influences of former exiles and refugees who come from all over the continent and the world. The eclectic combination of the people, languages, complexions, cultures and values found in this country are not the result of any particular blackness. This country has become a big, diverse and inter-cultural melting pot where no single black experience or perspective is more important except in the pursuit of ideals, principles and values that promote economic justice, social cohesion and national unity.
This new blackness will influence and shape the new thinking, behaviour and attitude of all people, irrespective of race and class, to “bestow a more human face to the world”.
The not-so-new South Africa is not the same country that Biko worked, lived and died in, where the battle lines were clear, simple and predictable. For instance, the return of exiles has unleashed diverse black perspectives based on varying experiences that have exploded into many black parts that are greater than the whole.
Unfortunately, some blacks, unwittingly, over-glorify apartheid and perpetuate its victim mentality. They believe there are still communities that are relatively black and homogenous.
Fortunately, these die-hards are few and peripheral like the super-Afrikaners, who long for some homogeneous world-view based on what happened in the past. However, we must be aware that black people have always been open to global influences that, inevitably, redefine and expand blackness. In the South Africa that commemorated the 43rd anniversary of Biko’s death on Septemer 12, all people must be encouraged to embrace black diversity. The new blackness is open and accessible to everyone who believes that the struggle was for human rights and freedom.
* Sandile Memela is a writer, cultural critic and public servant. He writes in his personal capacity.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.