I Write What I Like

A posthumous collection of writings by the South African leader of the Black Consciousness movement, edited by his friend Father Aelred Stubbs and published after Biko's death in police custody in 1977. Many pieces are columns Biko wrote under the name Frank Talk for the newsletter of the South African Students' Organisation. He defines Black Consciousness as the realisation by Black people that they must unite and free themselves, beginning with the mind, since the oppressor's strongest weapon is the mind of the oppressed. He uses black to include all who are oppressed under apartheid, not only Africans. He criticises white liberals who claim to lead the struggle, argues that Black people must first build their own solidarity, and discusses African cultural values such as community and shared responsibility. The book also includes his testimony at a 1976 trial of Black Consciousness activists and a memoir of Biko by Stubbs.

It is the founding text of Black Consciousness, direct and readable, and its analysis of psychological liberation and allyship still speaks to debates about race and solidarity.