Black People's Convention
Encyclopedia
The Black People's Convention (BPC) was founded at the end of 1972 as the Nationalist Liberatory Flagship of the Black Consciousness Movement
(BCM) in South Africa.The BCM was a product of three historicultural and ideological imperatives:
a) Black students were tired of the hypocrisy of white liberal
college/university students of apartheid South Africa
. The South African Students Organization (SASO) originated Black Consciousness and Bantu Steve Biko was its founding President in 1969.
b) Blacks were undermining reactionary tribalist/national chauvinist/sexists divide and rule by white racialist settler-colinial governments since 1910 and earlier. This tradition includes anti-colonial and resistance movements since 1652 when the Dutch East Indial Company established a half-way station for fresh food etc in the Cape under Johan Van Reebeck.
c) Young people globally were taking their part in the international radical/revolutionary militancy of the mid and late sixties. This tendency was a legacy of the Congress Youth League led by Muziwakhe Lembede, the Unity Movement of South Africa and the Mangaliso Sobulkhwe-led Pan-Africanist Congress that linked continental and global working class struggle with South Africa's national oppression of Black people.
The BPC was founded by the Black communities from various ethnic and national groups in South Africa, excluding white Europe
ans. The BPC went farther than the ANC
's civil rights integrationist agenda and agreed with the Pan Africanist Congress on "National Land" repossession. They went further by espousing scientific socialism
under the guise of "Black Communalism".
When the BPC was gaining ideological hegemony
over the leadership of Blacks in the country, Chief Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi was given permission by the apartheid government to go to London
and meet the ANC leadership. Later he formed the Inkatha Cultural Movement, claiming allegiance to Black Consciousness but "not communism or socialism".
Bantu Steve Biko
was the first among equals in the leadership of the BPC, although he was legally not a member as he was outlawed or banned in March 1973. That restricted him to his home from 6pm till 6am and he was not allowed to belong to any political or social organization. The BPC was to the South African Student Organization ((SASO)) South Africa's Black Consciousness Movement the same role that the Black Panther Party
(BPP) was to SNCC
and the Black Power
Movement.
The BPC, like the BPP in the USA was attacked and destroyed by the system but rose like a phoenix
in 1978 as the Azanian People's Organisation (AZAPO). In exile from 1974 onwards BCM activists and organizers re-built the movement as the Black Consciousness Movement of Azania (BCMA) and in 1980, became the external wing of AZAPO, with an interim executive leadership committee.
In 1981 the founding National Organizer, Mosibudi Mangena
was nominated to be the Chairperson of the Botswana Region of the BCMA and later by 1983, a motion was moved asking the Botswana
Chapter to invite other external branches to dissolve the BCMA Interim Committee. This was done and Mosibudi Mangena was elected in 1983 Chairperson of the BCMA in exile. Mangena is, since 1996, President AZAPO in post-apartheid South Africa.
The three factors that led to BPC founding its ideology can be found in the indigenous African culture of resistance. The ideology is no further from the Convention People's Party
of Ghana
and the politics not unlike that of the Black Panther Party - hence the Black Peoples Convention.
In the years after the Soweto Uprising of 1976 black consciousness declined was marginalized as a political force in South Africa, as the ANC demonstrated that it could both opportunistically put a guerilla army
in the field against apartheid as well as lead a new wave of liberal accommodationist and capitalist collaborationist mass organisations, such as the United Democratic Front
. Organisations previously associated with black consciousness either were hijacked by political carrerist to gravitate towards the ANC's position (eg AZASO, Institute of Contextual Theology) or effectively became alternative, although marginalized, core of cadres with consistency like AZAPO 's President Mosibudi who is Minister of Science and Technology in Thabo Mbeki's Cabinet and earlier been Deputy Minister of National Education. Also Azapo as parliamentary representative, Pandelani Nevelofhodwe, MP and former Robben Island prisoner.
Black Consciousness Movement
The Black Consciousness Movement was a grassroots anti-Apartheid activist movement that emerged in South Africa in the mid-1960s out of the political vacuum created by the jailing and banning of the African National Congress and Pan Africanist Congress leadership after the Sharpeville Massacre in...
(BCM) in South Africa.The BCM was a product of three historicultural and ideological imperatives:
a) Black students were tired of the hypocrisy of white liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
college/university students of apartheid South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. The South African Students Organization (SASO) originated Black Consciousness and Bantu Steve Biko was its founding President in 1969.
b) Blacks were undermining reactionary tribalist/national chauvinist/sexists divide and rule by white racialist settler-colinial governments since 1910 and earlier. This tradition includes anti-colonial and resistance movements since 1652 when the Dutch East Indial Company established a half-way station for fresh food etc in the Cape under Johan Van Reebeck.
c) Young people globally were taking their part in the international radical/revolutionary militancy of the mid and late sixties. This tendency was a legacy of the Congress Youth League led by Muziwakhe Lembede, the Unity Movement of South Africa and the Mangaliso Sobulkhwe-led Pan-Africanist Congress that linked continental and global working class struggle with South Africa's national oppression of Black people.
The BPC was founded by the Black communities from various ethnic and national groups in South Africa, excluding white Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
ans. The BPC went farther than the ANC
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
's civil rights integrationist agenda and agreed with the Pan Africanist Congress on "National Land" repossession. They went further by espousing scientific socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
under the guise of "Black Communalism".
When the BPC was gaining ideological hegemony
Hegemony
Hegemony is an indirect form of imperial dominance in which the hegemon rules sub-ordinate states by the implied means of power rather than direct military force. In Ancient Greece , hegemony denoted the politico–military dominance of a city-state over other city-states...
over the leadership of Blacks in the country, Chief Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi was given permission by the apartheid government to go to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and meet the ANC leadership. Later he formed the Inkatha Cultural Movement, claiming allegiance to Black Consciousness but "not communism or socialism".
Bantu Steve Biko
Steve Biko
Stephen Biko was a noted anti-apartheid activist in South Africa in the 1960s and 1970s. A student leader, he later founded the Black Consciousness Movement which would empower and mobilize much of the urban black population. Since his death in police custody, he has been called a martyr of the...
was the first among equals in the leadership of the BPC, although he was legally not a member as he was outlawed or banned in March 1973. That restricted him to his home from 6pm till 6am and he was not allowed to belong to any political or social organization. The BPC was to the South African Student Organization ((SASO)) South Africa's Black Consciousness Movement the same role that the Black Panther Party
Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party wasan African-American revolutionary leftist organization. It was active in the United States from 1966 until 1982....
(BPP) was to SNCC
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee ' was one of the principal organizations of the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. It emerged from a series of student meetings led by Ella Baker held at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina in April 1960...
and the Black Power
Black Power
Black Power is a political slogan and a name for various associated ideologies. It is used in the movement among people of Black African descent throughout the world, though primarily by African Americans in the United States...
Movement.
The BPC, like the BPP in the USA was attacked and destroyed by the system but rose like a phoenix
Phoenix (mythology)
The phoenix or phenix is a mythical sacred firebird that can be found in the mythologies of the Arabian, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Chinese, Indian and Phoenicians....
in 1978 as the Azanian People's Organisation (AZAPO). In exile from 1974 onwards BCM activists and organizers re-built the movement as the Black Consciousness Movement of Azania (BCMA) and in 1980, became the external wing of AZAPO, with an interim executive leadership committee.
In 1981 the founding National Organizer, Mosibudi Mangena
Mosibudi Mangena
Mosibudi Mangena is a South Africa politician and the President of the Azanian People's Organisation . He was the Minister of Science and Technology from 2004 to 2008....
was nominated to be the Chairperson of the Botswana Region of the BCMA and later by 1983, a motion was moved asking the Botswana
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...
Chapter to invite other external branches to dissolve the BCMA Interim Committee. This was done and Mosibudi Mangena was elected in 1983 Chairperson of the BCMA in exile. Mangena is, since 1996, President AZAPO in post-apartheid South Africa.
The three factors that led to BPC founding its ideology can be found in the indigenous African culture of resistance. The ideology is no further from the Convention People's Party
Convention People's Party
The Convention People's Party is a socialist political party in Ghana, based on the ideas of former President Kwame Nkrumah.The CPP was formed in 1949 by Kwame Nkrumah to campaign for the independence of the Gold Coast. It ruled Ghana from 1957 to 1966...
of Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
and the politics not unlike that of the Black Panther Party - hence the Black Peoples Convention.
In the years after the Soweto Uprising of 1976 black consciousness declined was marginalized as a political force in South Africa, as the ANC demonstrated that it could both opportunistically put a guerilla army
Umkhonto we Sizwe
Umkhonto we Sizwe , translated "Spear of the Nation," was the armed wing of the African National Congress which fought against the South African apartheid government. MK launched its first guerrilla attacks against government installations on 16 December 1961...
in the field against apartheid as well as lead a new wave of liberal accommodationist and capitalist collaborationist mass organisations, such as the United Democratic Front
United Democratic Front (South Africa)
The United Democratic Front was one of the most important anti-apartheid organisations of the 1980s. The non-racial coalition of about 400 civic, church, students', workers' and other organisations was formed in 1983, initially to fight the just-introduced idea of the Tricameral Parliament The...
. Organisations previously associated with black consciousness either were hijacked by political carrerist to gravitate towards the ANC's position (eg AZASO, Institute of Contextual Theology) or effectively became alternative, although marginalized, core of cadres with consistency like AZAPO 's President Mosibudi who is Minister of Science and Technology in Thabo Mbeki's Cabinet and earlier been Deputy Minister of National Education. Also Azapo as parliamentary representative, Pandelani Nevelofhodwe, MP and former Robben Island prisoner.