Thinking about Biko and the Power of Words on a Wall

Today we went to a place called the Slave Lodge. It was a housing facility in Cape Town for the slave labor brought in to work the farm built in the cape, as it was made a refueling stop for ships in the colonial era. The slaves were a global mix culturally. They were from Indonesia, Madagascar, India, and other parts of Africa. Slaves in this part of Africa were imported; unlike the slave trade that Americans are more familiar with (i.e.-The Middle Passage and the slave traingle from Western Africa to the Carribean to the Colonies) slaves as an export.
There are two parts of this museum that I am thinking about and will continue to do so as the next three weeks unfold, and I return to Louisville, KY.
The first is a man whom I had never heard of until now, Steven Biko. Biko was a leader in the anti-apartheid movement with the pinnacle of his leadership being in the 60's and 70's. Biko was the President of the BCP or Black Consciousness Party. Biko was taken into custody by the national police for a variety of reasons, but seriously, it was fear. Biko hit the nail on the head and was able to articulate to those far and wide what apartheid was and why such a devious institution must come to an end. Biko died in police custody. Was it a hunger strike or was it brain damage that lead to Biko's death? There are conflicting reports, and in the exhibit it is evident that the police comissioner/minister at that time was sending specifically ambivilent and mixed signals about the actual causes of Biko's death.
The second piece of this museum that I continue to think about is a long gray hallway that had a bunch of quotes painted on the walls in the various authors' handwriting. They looked like chalk, but were actually white paint. I was struck by one in particular -

"Never doubt what a few committed human beings can do to change the world."

I am not sure who the author is because their name was written in such a way that I was unable to read it. Although I am not sure who wrote it, I could hear their voice in my head as I stood in that dimly lit gray hallway reading the words that had rolled off their pen. Committment and changing the world...