Sandile Memela
Pretoria - The 46th anniversary of the death of Steve Biko needs to be grounded on the definition of a new state of blackness and acknowledgement that black people have never been a homogeneous group.
It has become clearer now that the holier-than-thou act of labelling fellow human beings non-whites was a form of political blackmail to coerce people to fit into a particular and narrow paradigm to promote the elusive ideal of black unity and solidarity.
What intrigues me is not the myth of black homogeneity and cohesiveness, but the denial of its fragmentation and mythical existence in the name of Biko.
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 what Biko himself defined as a “mental attitude” that can be adopted by those that choose to, including people of European, Chinese or Asian descent.
It is definitely not and has never been about rallying around skin colour.
This new blackness, if you like, is not just intuitively owned or connected to descendants of Biko’s Black Consciousness philosophy or its definition of what constitutes black.
In fact, Biko’s understanding and interpretation of blackness has not only been distorted by organisations like Azapo, but has, wrongly, been narrowed to issues of skin colour, physical appearance and geographical place of origin.
This is what even self-proclaimed adherents and advocates 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 now, this blackness is a fusion of different classes, backgrounds, languages, cultures, ethnic groups and political orientations.
In fact, there is not a single ideology, philosophy or perspective that is authentically “black”. Blacks have long splintered into diverse interest groups that can only be united, potentially, by their commitment to what Biko called “giving the world a human face” or expressing the philosophy of Ubuntu. Besides that, there is nothing that makes blackness a monolithic group attitude.
Thus, in this blackness, you are likely to find people who question its certainty and authenticity as espoused by the Father of Black Consciousness, like Steve Bantu Biko, for instance. After all, Biko was only human.
Today, the phenomenon of young black people from elite and middle-class backgrounds, called Cheese Kids, are a living expression that blackness is not a monolithic experience but varied, depending on how you choose to define yourself.
There are now millions of blacks who live in what can be called or defined as the post-Black Age, that is, that period following the demise of apartheid, where blacks are so free that they can define themselves in any way they want.
In fact, to deny them that right would be a development that is worse than apartheid, which 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.
We should all be ready to accept that so-called “blacks” come from a wider variety of places than just those who are considered natives of this beautiful land, or were oppressed by the discredited and defeated apartheid regime.
I do not believe that there is any single person now, including Biko, who continues to rule from the grave, who has the authority and power to tell us what constitutes the state of blackness.
But even if this elusive and essential state of blackness or identity exists, it cannot be something static. It is dynamic, forward-moving and undergoing constant change and transformation.
This 21st-century blackness must have nothing to do with the politics of identity and its preservationists who want to freeze it into an unchanging apartheid mode. In fact, it encompasses and integrates the progressive new global generation of young black people who do not necessarily speak so-called “African” languages, or who live outside the rural areas or township.
Thus, we have to push its boundaries to the limits to absorb the suburban, continental and global experiences and influences of former exiles and refugees who come from all over the continent and the world.
If by blackness you have something homogeneous, exclusive and impenetrable, it is a phenomenon that can no longer be found in post-Mandela South Africa. The eclectic combination of the people, languages, complexions, cultures and values in this country are not the result of any particular blackness. This country has become a big, diverse and intercultural melting pot, where no single black experience or perspective is more important than any other, except ideals, principles and values that promote social cohesion and national unity.
In fact, social cohesion and national unity beyond blackness towards non-racialism is the new gospel that should influence and shape the new thinking, behaviour and attitude of all people, including the non-blacks.
If you open your eyes to the almost 30 years of new South Africa, you can safely conclude that this is not the same country that Biko and his disciples of blackness lived in 1968, where the battle lines were not only clear, but simple and predictable.
In the past 46 years since Biko’s death, a lot has changed, yet remained the same. For example, the release of Mandela from prison, the return of exiles that were scattered throughout the world, and the unbanning of the liberation movement. South Africa has not only unleashed diverse black perspectives and experiences, but exploded into many parts that are greater than the whole.
Perhaps when those who over-glorify apartheid and perpetuate the victim mentality of what it has done believe there are still communities that are relatively black and homogeneous.
Yes, there may still be a few die-hard but marginal exponents of blackness who are like the super-Afrikaners who long for some homogeneous world view based on what happened in the past.
But we must be aware that black people have always been open to global influences, which inevitably redefine and expand blackness. Think back to Mapungubwe in Limpopo, which was the cradle of world commerce and trade with China and Europe long before the arrival of the European conquerors.
After all, the freedom Struggle has always been premised on bestowing freedom of choice, movement and self-definition for all.
And some black choices may not necessarily be with the narrow, monotonous and predictable view of what constitutes blackness.
In the South Africa that celebrates 30 years of freedom and democracy in 2024, all people must be encouraged to embrace the diversity of whatever constitutes blackness. Those who want to protect and preserve black homogeneity need to retain what they value with neither fascist prescription nor discrimination.
Well, yes, there will always be those who think their blackness is a prerogative of victims of apartheid who continue to suffer from its legacy. But we should be ready to accept that there are other blacks who are not interested in being imprisoned in the past of what apartheid has done.
Blackness, whatever that is, is open and accessible to everyone who believes that the Struggle was not only for human rights, but to enable any black person to redefine him- or herself in any way they wish, including speaking English only and living what is superficially defined as a white lifestyle.
In fact, blackness has gone global. Where it is portrayed or projected as homogeneous and exclusive, as exponents of politics of identity and cultural preservationists are likely to do, they need to not only be warned against dictatorial tendencies, but to be deplored and discouraged in the strongest terms.
What this new world needs is absolute freedom for black people to express self-love, above all, in any way that promotes peace, unity and harmonious living among all people of the world, irrespective of where they come from.
Nobody should tell us that blackness or its expression should be locked and ring-fenced into some form of relationship with apartheid and its legacy. Apartheid is dead and buried, except in the minds of a special type of black who has allowed it to reproduce racial ghettos in the mind.
Those who feel that their blackness is threatened must accept that it was destined, inevitably, to change because it is part of human progress in a changing world. Nothing is permanent except change.
The push towards a new blackness should, be from within the evolving black community itself. Much as it is an unsettling thought, it will come from the creative tension that marks the fusion of the local, regional, continent and global experience.
Some will like it and embrace it. Others will not. But black people must continue to be in the forefront of bringing a “human face” to the world. It is what has to happen in these times when Europe has not only failed and betrayed Africa, but also itself.
* Memela is a writer, cultural critic and public servant. He writes in his personal capacity.
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.
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