Important Events

THE SOWETO UPRISING

SOWETO (SOuth WEst TOwnships) is an urban area of 32 square miles situated
six miles outside of Johannesburg. Here the one and a half million black people who
make up the workforce for the ‘white’ cities are forced to live. Soweto is overcrowded and lacks the basic amenities found in the areas which are reserved for white people.On 16th June 1976 thousands of schoolchildren took to the streets. Their march was, by all accounts, carefree and jovial. Their purpose was to protest against an inferior education system. Dr. Verwoed, prime minister of South Africa from 1960 to 1966 summarised the government’s policy for education when he said in 1954. ‘...Natives will be taught from childhood to realise that equality with Europeans is not for them...People who believe in equality are not desirable teachers for Natives...What is the use of teaching the Bantu mathematics when he cannot use it in practice ? That idea is quite absurd.’©Film Education 11
The Bantu Education Act of 1953 had resulted in overcrowded classes and schools,
a shortage of textbooks and underqualified teachers. Above all students resented the second-rate curriculum which had been imposed on their schools. In the months before the Soweto uprising the ideas of Black Consciousness had been taking root in the township schools. Steve Biko’s philosophy of Black Consciousness reached a wide audience in May when he gave evidence for the
defence in the trial of nine Black Consciousness leaders. The immediate issues which had led to their protest was the recent announcement from the Minister of Education that half of their school subjects were to be taught in Afrikaans. Afrikaans, almost entirely Dutch in origin, was the language of the original Dutch settlers and is still the official language of the ruling ‘Afrikaner’ government. To black South African people it is the language of their oppressors.
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STEVEN BIKO DIES

On 11 September 1977, police loaded him in the back of a Land Rover, naked and restrained in manacles, and began the 1100 km drive to Pretoria to take him to a prison with hospital facilities. He was nearly dead owing to the previous injuries.[11] He died shortly after arrival at the Pretoria prison, on 12 September. The police claimed his death was the result of an extended hunger strike, but an autopsy revealed multiple bruises and abrasions and that he ultimately succumbed to a brain hemorrhage from the massive injuries to the head,[7] which many saw as strong evidence that he had been brutally clubbed by his captors. Then Donald Woods, a journalist, editor and close friend of Biko's, along with Helen Zille, later leader of theDemocratic Alliance political party, exposed the truth behind Biko's death.

THE FIRST MEETING

They in a converted church in the black township of King William's Town, Biko showed Woods that he was interested only in peaceful politics to bring about change. Once this realisation came about, the two men became friends and Woods' education into the real issues of South Africa began.  This meeting signified a great change that was to come and a complete alteration of history.In 1975, Woods went to the Police Minister, James Kruger, asking for an easing on Biko's banning orders. The end result was that he himself came under even closer scrutiny and observation by the authorities. He was prosecuted seven times over items he published. When Biko died in police custody, Woods denounced the authorities, leading to his own voice being banned.  

When Cry Freedom was released in 1987, it was met with fairly positive reviews. As with any film, though, there were some negative remarks and some critics that weren't the movies' biggest fan. 

Roger Ebert writes: "This movie promises to be an honest account of the turmoil in South Africa but turns into a routine cliff-hanger about the editor's flight across the border". He continues on that there could have been more of a focus on Steven Biko rather than on the white reporter. He even notes that the actress who plays Donald Woods' wife is billed above Denzel Washington who plays Steven Biko, and even goes so far as to say that it is "wrong". Ebert criticizes that the film, as many films do, focuses too much on the whites in the foreground when it should really be focusing on the real problem, which in this case is the apartheid and the black people that get pushed to the background so often. 

Ram Samudrala agrees with Ebert for the most part. He talks about how the film's perspective would have been better had it been from Biko's point of view rather than Woods'. He says, "It really is pointless to view this incident from the perspective of Woods". He also states that the incidences that should have been major focuses of the film, as they were historically, were condensed into small scenes with very little historical detail and accuracy, while scenes that were unimportant to the story of the apartheid were drawn-out and too detailed.

In another review, Alex von Tunzelmann gave the film a "C+" for overall entertainment, but a "C" on its historical value. From her perspective, it was "a well-meaning film", but that if you are looking to learn about Steven Biko and his impact on South Africa and the rest of the world, that you should look elsewhere.