The greatest weapon in the hand of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.
To a large extent the evil-doers have succeeded in producing at the output end of their machine a kind of black man who is man only in form. This is the extent to which the process of dehumanization has advanced.
We believe it is the duty of the vanguard political movement which brings change to educate people’s outlook.
Any warning normally implies, even if it is tacit, that there should be changes.
This is white man’s integration, an integration based on exploitative values.
Tradition has it that whenever a group of people has tasted the lovely fruits of wealth, security and prestige it begins to find it more comfortable to believe in the obvious lie and accept that it alone is entitled to privilege.
The system concedes nothing without demand, for it formulates its very method of operation on the basis that the ignorant will learn to know, the child will grow into an adult and therefore demands will begin to be made. It gears itself to resist demands in whatever way it sees fit.
WOMEN must be at the forefront of nation-building to bring the South African citizenry together and, therefore, develop a whole new ethos of human co-existence.
We are experiencing new problems every day and whatever we do adds to the richness of our cultural heritage as long as it has man as its centre.
Black Consciousness is in essence the realization by the black man of the need to rally together with his brothers around the cause of their oppression.
The power of a movement lies in the fact that it can indeed change the habits of people. This change is not the result of force but of dedication, of moral persuasion.
Black Consciousness therefore takes cognizance of the deliberateness of God’s plan in creating Black people black.
We believe in the inherent goodness of man.
A people without a positive history is like a vehicle without an engine.
The logic behind white domination is to prepare the black man for the subservient role in this country.
Part of the approach envisaged in bringing about Black Consciousness has to be directed to the past, to seek to rewrite the history of the black man and to produce in it the heroes who form the core of the African background.
In all fields black consciousness seeks to talk to the black man in a language that is his own.
Apartheid – both petty and grand – is obviously evil. Nothing can justify the arrogant assumption that a clique of foreigners has the right to decide on the lives of a majority.
If you want to say something radical, you should dress conservatively.
The essence of politics is to direct oneself to the group which wields power.
I think the central theme about black society is that it has got elements of a defeated society.