What the book brings forth brilliantly, amongst other things, is a picture of the same man seen through different eyes … both this book and Biko’s own I Write What I Like should form part of any history syllabus.

—Kgomotso Moncho, Pretoria News

Steve Biko, father of the Black Consciousness philosophy, was killed in prison on 12 September 1977. Biko was only thirty years old, but his ideas and political activities changed the course of South African history and helped hasten the end of apartheid.

The year 2007 saw the thirtieth anniversary of Biko’s death. To mark the occasion, the then Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Mosibudi Mangena, commissioned Chris van Wyk to compile an anthology of essays as a tribute to the great South African son.

Among the contributors are Minister Mangena himself, ex-President Thabo Mbeki, writer Darryl Accone, journalists Lizeka Mda and Bokwe Mafuna, academics Jonathan Jansen, Mandla Seleoane and Saths Cooper, a friend of Biko’s and former president of Azapo.

We Write What We Like  proudly echoes the title of Biko’s seminal work, I Write What I Like. It is a gift to a new generation which enjoys freedom, from one that was there when this freedom was being fought for. And it celebrates the man whose legacy is the freedom to think and say and write what we like.

Chris van Wyk is a full-time writer.