The Azanian People’s Organisation is formed

The Azanian People's Organisation (AZAPO) was formed at an inaugural conference in Roodepoort, near Johannesburg. The organisation was based on the philosophy of Black Consciousness advocated by Steven Biko. It was open to Blacks, Coloureds and Indians, but closed to Whites. AZAPO emerged from the ashes of the Black People's Convention (BPC), the South African Students' Organisation (SASO) and Black Community Programmes (BCP) - some of the Black consciousness organisations that had been banned on 19 October 1977 for their role in the resistance and the 16 June 1976 uprisings. The organisation sought to apply the socialist ideologies of Lenin and Marx to the South African context and opposed all institutions created by the government. AZAPO adopted the slogan of the BPC - 'One Azania, one People'. Click here to read more about the Black Consciousness Movement. Sources: Kalley, J.A.; Schoeman, E. & Andor, L.E. (eds)(1999). Southern African Political History: a chronology of key political events from independence to mid-1997, Westport: Greenwood, p. 438.