Stephen Biko was South African anti-apartheid activist famous for his slogan "Black is Beautiful", which he said meant: "You are okay as you are - begin to look upon yourself as a human being".
On August 18th, 1977, Biko was arrested at a police roadblock under the Terrorism Act and interrogated in Police Room 619 for 22 hours. His interrogation included torture and resulted in a coma. On September 11th police put Stephen Biko in the back of a Land Rover, naked and in chains, and drove him 1100 km to a prison that had hospital facilities.
He died on arrival at the prison, on September 12th. The police claimed his death was the result of an extended hunger strike.
Peter Gabriel would play Biko and encourage the audience to join him in the singing. As the song ends, all that was left was the drummer's beat and the crowd's cry.
