SEPTEMBER 12, 1977
Steve Biko, a key member of the South African Black Consciousness movement is beaten to death by state security officers after being arrested for breaking a banning order by travelling to Cape Town.
Biko had been arrested on August 18, was interrogated for up to 22 hours at a time and kept naked and shackled. On September 6 he was severely beaten by at least one security officers. He was later transferred to a prison hospital in Pretoria, where he died on September 12. Biko’s fame spread after his death and he became the subject of numerous songs and works of art, and the film Cry Freedom.