House visiting was always a feature of the elderly folk’s way of life. This pattern one would find in all age groups. No one felt unnecessarily an intruder into someone else’s business. All commonly shared their secrets, joys and woes. Thus one would find all boys whose job was to look after cattle periodically meeting at popular spots to engage in conversation about their cattle, girlfriends, parents, heroes, etc. Conversation groups were more or less naturally determined by age and division of labour. In fact, in the traditional African culture, there is no such thing as two friends.
Intimacy is a term not exclusive for particular friends but applying to a whole group of people who find themselves together either through work or residential requirements. Westerners have on many occasions been surprised at the capacity we have for talking to each other – not for the sake of arriving at a particular conclusion but merely to enjoy the communication for its own sake. Ours has always been a Man-centered society.
One of the most fundamental aspects of our culture is the importance we attach to Man. In addition, it features all the material of the original Picador Africa edition: a collection of Biko's columns entitled I Write What I Like published in the journal of the South Africa Student Organisation under the pseudonym of 'Frank Talk' other journal articles, interviews and letters written by Steve Biko at the time an Introduction by Nkosinathi Biko a preface by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and a moving memoir by Father Aelred Stubbs, which pays tribute to the courage and power of this young leader, who was to become one of Africa's heroes.I am still slowly making my way through Steve Biko’s ‘I write what I like’ and here is a passage that i marked a while ago from Chapter 8: Some African Cultural Concepts: Ndebele, personal reflections on Steve Biko and Black Consciousness, as well as Biko's first known published piece of writing. This 40th anniversary edition includes a Foreword by Njabulo S.
Before his untimely death in detention at age 30, he was instrumental in uniting Black Africans in the struggle against the apartheid government in South Africa. I Write What I Like features the writing of the famous activist and Black Consciousness leader, Steve Biko.
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