The death of Stephen Biko.mp3
Describes the torture undergone by activist Stephen Biko as he lay dying in a prisson cell.
"The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor, is the mind of the oppressed." Bantu Stephen Biko. yihla moya. Spirit asend.
Story behind the song
on a cold day in March of this year, I found myself downloading some folk music. as I like to do, I like to download songs that in some way have mmessages in them. The song the death of stephen Biko gives a graphic account of what happened to one man as a result of hibeliefs.
Lyrics
Stephen Biko lay in shackles on a urine sodden mattress
In the solitary section, he was made to lie there naked…Ah Ah…
Given nothing he could wash with, exercise was not permitted
Stephen Biko lay in shackles compliments of Colonel Goosen
Ah Ah Africa! Ah Ah Africa!
Port Elizabeth the prison. South Africa the nation.
Stepen Biko lay in shackles, though his hands and feet were swollen…Ah Ah…
In the close interrogation, he was beaten like the others
He was put back in the shackles, compliments of Colonel Goosen
Ah Ah Africa! Ah Ah Africa!
He was sick and he was dying. Prison doctors came to see him.
When the cops spoke to the doctors, they said, “Nothing much is wrong here.” Ah…Ah…
Just a short stay in the infirmary. Then it’s back down to the shackles
On a mattress soaked with urine, compliments of Colonel Goosen
Ah Ah Africa! Ah Ah Africa!
When they found him in a coma, when the man was clearly dying
He was naked, but they stowed him in the back of a land rover…Ah…Ah…
Though a hospital was nearby, it was no part of a prison
So they took him to Pretoria, seven hundred fifty miles…
Ah Ah Africa! Ah Ah Africa!
There was no one on the journey who could help the man survive it
And the medical equipment was just one bottle of water…Ah…Ah…
When they reached Pretoria Prison, they brought no medical records with them
And they said, “He might be faking. It’s a hunger strike he’s staging.”
Ah Ah Africa! Ah Ah Africa!
Stephen Biko in pretoria was laid down upon a mattress.
On the stone floor of a prison, and he died his lonely death there.
Ah, ah.
Now, the country was South Africa; the victim, Stephen Biko.
The victim, All South Africa; the victim, all humanity,
At the death of Stephen Biko.
Ah, Africa!
Ah, Africa!
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