Interview: Steve Biko on Human Trafficking

by Amanda Kloer · 2009-07-27 07:00:00 UTC
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Each week, I will be bringing you a new interview with a formerly-active activist or abolitionist, that is, someone now deceased.  I'll be talking to the men and women who paved the way for the abolitionists of today and getting their thoughts on the problems and solutions of modern-day slavery.  How do I contact not just the dead, but the famous and dead?  Every good blogger must have her secrets!

This week... Steve Biko

How's the afterlife treating you?

Awesome.  I've finally gotten to meet a lot of my old heroes.

For those non-biography readers out there, how about you tell me a little about yourself.

I was a student anti-apartheid activist in South Africa in the 1960s and 1970s.  I am often considered a martyr to the anti-apartheid movement because I died of untreated injuries I received in police custody.  I promoted non-violent resistance against the oppressive white regime in South Africa.

What do you think is the biggest problem in the modern-day abolitionist movement?

We have not found a good way to mobilize students.  They have time, energy, passion, and a fearless commitment to social justice.  They just need motivation and direction from leaders to help channel that.  Students are our greatest resource.

If you were alive, what would you do to fight slavery?

I would form a national grassroots organization of anti-trafficking student organizations, based on dynamic leadership and rhetoric.  I would use that structure to inspire and direct students across the country to take action against modern day slavery.  I would make it the height of uncool to use slave-made goods on a college campus.

Any last thoughts for our readers?

They may have killed my body, but in my place rose 10,000 Bikos.  Who will rise in yours?

Amanda Kloer is a Change.org Editor and has been a full-time abolitionist in several capacities for seven years. Follow her on Twitter @endhumantraffic
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