"Apartheid." "It has ripped different ethnicities into different groups on equal and completely divided men against men race against race violence erupted into the cities of South Africa." "children were left to defense for themselves alone in the violent streets of South African cities." "Living in South Africa at that time was not uncommon to find that one of your loved ones had been killed." "The years 1948 to 1994 were years of grief and despair." "In this time murders, massacres, mutilations, suicide attempts and robberies were common." "South Africa needed help." "Help came in the form of an intelligent South African native:" "Steve Biko." "Having been born on December 18, 1946." "Apartheid was something Steve had seen and knew well." "Opposition of the South African government referred to as the system to be keyed in stopping the implementation of Apartheid and for this opposition to occur" "South Africa would be in need of an unforseen clerical activist" "He funded SASO." "A political organization for students." "Steve Biko traveled all over the southern countries of Africa given speeches and lectures to the inhabitants of apartheid dominant countries." "He wrote various books concerning the predicaments of South Africa and its apartheid government." "He preached for the concept of "black conciousness"" "his followers abided black conciousness by taking pride in being black." "Biko was also well known for saying "black is beautiful"" "These two notions help to motivate and raise the self-steem of many blacks." "Steve Biko's leadership and non-violent actions can be closely compared to the ideas of Ghandi and Martin Luther King junior who was at that time fighting for civil rights back in the US" "As SASO flourished under Biko's command, Biko formed more organizations which prefered adults as well as students, he was a funder of the black people's convention which brought together around seventy "black conciousness" groups." "Because of his sucess in leadership and the bringing about unity between different organizations" "Biko was banned by the South African government." "His banning included the following restrictions:" "But this is not the end of" "Biko's political career, secretly he continued to speak against Apartheid." "However, Biko didn't get away with this for ever" "As Nkosinathi Biko, his now grown-up son, explains:" "As said by his close friend, Donald Woods, in his book "Biko"" "Bantu Stephen Biko was taken by the South African political police room 619 of the San-lam building in Strand Street, Port Elizabeth, Cape Province, where he was handcuffed, put into leg irons, chained to a grille" "and subjected to 22 hours interrogation in the course of which he was tortured and beaten, sustaining several blows to the head which fatally damaged his brain causing him to lapsed into a coma." "A cunning lie was allotted by the South African government" "James Thomas Kruger, the Minister of Police, claimed that Biko had died due to a hunger strike." "However, many who were close to Biko, highly doubted this statement." "Including Biko's wife, Ntsiki Biko." "To prove this suspiction, Donald Woods stared at Biko's body in the morgue and took pictures of his injuries." "who obviously said Biko's injuries were not caused by lack of food but violent beatings." "On September 25th 1977, the funeral commenced." "because of police restrictions thousands of people were unable to attend even so diplomats from many western countries as well as natives of South Africa attended to make this assembly a total of around 20,000 people, the sorrow of the black Africans" "was overwhelming, not only had they lost a valient leader, they also lost an intriguing friend." "The ambition of Steve Biko was not something that could be recreated and he will be sorely missed not only in South Africa but throughout the whole world." "Because of Steve Biko's untimely death and his widely attended funeral many countries became aware of South Africa's dilemma seemingly inside it before these Western countries would no longer turn a blind eye at the dire need of South Africa." "The United States grew relatively good terms with South Africa demanded that an inquiry'd be made about the exact events surrounding" "Biko's death." "or else friendly relations would add." "Many European countries were infuriated about the death of an incredibly great man they questioned the stability and receding of South Africa." "If South Africa didn't change it would be left to fend for itself." "It seemed that the death of Biko was bringing about more chaos to the government rather than silence from the public." "Due to the pressure South Africa was bearing from international and national attention the government had to change their story to something more plausible an inquest into Biko's death reported that the death was caused by brain damage." "the new story was that Biko was accidentally killed by the security police due to unmanageable behaviour." "Donald Woods attempted to leave the country with his evidence that Biko didn't really die from police abuse." "In response, the government banned him in order to keep the truth from being let out amongst the public." "As South Africa became too dangerous for Woods, he left the country with his wife and five children." "He published a book about Biko containing the truth of his death and the pictures to prove it." "Because of this the truth of Biko's death was soon discovered by people all over the world." "Due to the brutality of Biko's death, he became a symbol of black opposition." "By the formation of many organizations and his death as a murder" "Stephen Bantu Biko aroused thousands to fight for equal rights which eventually resulted in the end of the Apartheid in South Africa." "Because of Steve Biko's active participation in the political field" "South Africa is a very different place today." "The end of Apartheid came in the year 1994 and in that same year South Africa elected a black president:" "Nelson Mandela." "Mandela had been elected in South Africa's first fully represented democratic election." "Had Steve Biko lived to see this day, he would have seen a South Africa that he'd always dreamed of." "Because of his non-violent outlook on political actions" "He's been able to bring about hope and unity to the black South Africans" "Blacks had shown themselves through Steve Biko's leadership to be just as good as white and black in the works of a very important South African Native is beautiful."