Nearly five decades after its first publication, Steve Biko’s I Write What I Like remains one of South Africa’s most enduring political texts, significantly shaping intellectual discourse around race, dignity, and liberation.
This collection of essays was published posthumously after the activist's death in 1977. Over the years, the book has become one of the country’s most quoted and widely read political works and is a foundational text for understanding the philosophy of Black Consciousness.
Forty-eight years after its initial release, the text has entered a new linguistic and cultural chapter. It has now been translated into isiXhosa—South Africa’s second most spoken language, used by roughly 16% of the population, this translation signifies a powerful expansion of access to one of the country’s most important political works. Titled Ndibhala Intando Yam, the isiXhosa edition is more than a linguistic conversion; it represents a deliberate act of cultural preservation and intellectual continuity.
Its arrival coincides with a moment of renewed urgency in conversations surrounding language preservation in South Africa. Scholars, educators, and cultural commentators are increasingly advocating for curricula that centre African languages, while a growing number of writers choose to compose in their mother tongues. Within this broader movement, translating Biko’s work into isiXhosa carries significant symbolic weight. As Dr Athambile Masola notes, language serves not merely as a communication tool but as a repository of knowledge, culture, and memory. When languages are sidelined, entire knowledge systems risk disappearing.
The translation itself is the product of a collaborative intellectual effort. The project was led by the late Reverend Professor Peter Tshobisa Mtuze, a respected literary scholar whose expertise in isiXhosa literature was foundational. He worked alongside Professor Simphiwe Sesanti from the Faculty of Education at the University of the Western Cape. Completing this scholarly trio was writer and academic Athambile Masola, who played an essential role in refining the language and ensuring the text resonates with contemporary isiXhosa readers.
Together, their efforts do more than translate words; they extend Biko’s ideas into another linguistic register, allowing a new generation of readers to engage with the philosophical weight of Black Consciousness in their own language. As Masola observes, rendering Biko’s ideas into isiXhosa is also a declaration that his voice—and the political imagination he inspired—continues to live across languages, generations, and time.
Original article appeared on GLAMOUR's Africa Month Issue, Out In Stores Now.
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