2 - ‘Our Struggle Calls for the Involvement of the Entire Black Community’

Summary

Chapter 2 re-examines a broadly documented history of the formative years of BCM. A whirlwind of activity laid the groundwork for lesser researched aspects of the early BCM years such as the development of Black Consciousness among working people, the creation of literacy projects, community development programs, internal debates on the merits of taking up arms and the central role played by Black women in the growth and development of the movement and its various projects. It was from within these events, agendas and projects that armed struggle was returned to by cadres such as Bokwe Mafuna, Nosipho Matshoba, Welile Nhlapo and Tebogo Mafole. For Black Consciousness, one could not respect picking up arms without also respecting and building from the social conditions and organizational details/skills/labour of their non-violent stage/wing. They mutually reinforced each other. Black Consciousness activists saw picking up arms as adding another layer to a powerful internal social movement against white settler colonialism. After the banning of key leaders in early 1973, by the end of the year, the first wave of activists left for Botswana to begin building this new armed wing of the movement.