Black Consciousness
A Love Story
Written by Hlumelo Biko
Narrated by Mark Mwaba
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In 1968, 15 principled and ambitious students met on the campus of the University of Natal in Durban to begin a journey guided by selflove. Two of these young students, Steve Biko and Mamphela Ramphele, fell in love with each other while dreaming of a life free from oppression and racial discrimination.
In this deeply personal book, Hlumelo Biko – who was born of Steve and Mamphela’s union – movingly recounts his parents’ love story and how their message to fellow black South Africans to love themselves helped to change the course of South African history. Their love story is set against the founding of the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM), which quickly gained mass support as it swept across the country in the early 1970s.
Hlumelo offers an insider’s view on the early years of the movement, thanks to interviews with several founding members like Barney Pityana, Sath Cooper, Charles Sibisi, Malusi Mpumlwana, and his own mother. While setting out the guiding principles of the movement around a positive black identity, a black theology and practising ubuntu through community programmes, Hlumelo is in a spiritual conversation with his father, who was brutally murdered by the apartheid police in 1977.
In writing this book, Hlumelo re-examines what it takes to live a Black Consciousness life in current-day South Africa. In a critical analysis of the BCM’s influence on the ANC, he shows how the governing party would do better by the majority of citizens if it returned to some of the tenets of Black Consciousness.
About the Author
Hlumelo Biko is an entrepreneur and a writer. He is also the son of Black Consciousness leader Steve Biko and politician and medical doctor Mamphela Ramphele. Hlumelo has been a private equity and venture capital professional for 20 years during which time he has been involved in buying or selling close to 30 companies. He is a dedicated philanthropist, which has been expressed in his work for the Baxter Theatre, Endeavor South Africa and African Schools for Excellence. Hlumelo was educated at the University of Cape Town and Georgetown University. He lives in Cape Town with his family.
About the Narrator
Mark Mwaba began working with his voice as soon as he had graduated from Cape Audio College as a sound engineer, where he gained many audio-related skills including recording, editing, and mixing audio.
Audiobook Details:
Published: January 2024
ISBN: 9781776193905
Narrator: Mark Mwaba
