An activist and founder of the Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa, Biko encouraged Black South Africans to be proud of their culture and stand up for their rights, becoming a leading figure in the fight against apartheid. He believed Black people had to organize independently to avoid domination—even by well-intentioned white liberals—and helped create the South African Students’ Organization in 1968. In 1973 he was banned from public speech under apartheid law, and in 1977 he died after being beaten by police while in custody, his death becoming an international symbol of apartheid’s brutality.