The Black People's Convention was formed on this day in 1972. It was the first political movement formed 12 years after the banning of the ANC & PAC post-Sharpeville. All BCM groups were brought under this umbrella organisation. Winnie Kgware was elected its first president. 
Winnie Kgware was an important figure of the Black Consciousness Movement. She was instrumental in organising Methodist prayer session on campus at Turfloop at a time when worship was banned. She organised a meeting space in the VC residents for the University Christian Movement.
She was responsible for helping students form the South African Students Movement and was also Peter Mokaba's political mentor. SASM was one of the bodies under the BPC when it was formed.
The BPC's first convention was held in December 1972 in Hammanskral. Other members of the executive committee were Saths Cooper, Madibeng Mokoditioa, Mosibudi Mangena and Sipho Buthelezi.
Winnie Kgware's activism was influenced by her 6 month tour of the United States in the 1960s with her husband. The Civil Rights Movement was important to the projects she created which were as a result of an exchange of ideas between her & Black women in the US.
Black self-reliance was an important part of the BPC's mission. They fulfilled this through the Black Community Programs. One of these was the Zanempilo Clinic eZinyoka. Dr Mamphela Ramphele along with Steve Biko ran it. Here's an image of Dr Ramphele at the clinic.
And there's the literature. BPC played a huge role in disseminating pro-Black in the form of Black Review, published through Raven Press. One of its contributors was Thoko Mpumlwana.
Thoko Mpumlwana (neé) went on to be the Black Review's first woman editor in 1974-1975. Her terms ended when she was banned by the apartheid state.
Another community program under the BPC was the Zimele Trust administered by Mapetla Mohapi and run by Thenjiwe Mthintso. This assisted political prisoners and their families.
Winnie Kgware served as president if BPC in 1972-1977 when all Black Consciousness Movement bodies were banned. Under her leadership and that of Steve Biko as honorary president, they helped revive political activity in what was then deemed a "lull" in the struggle years.
I've deliberately mentioned and posted pictures of women because of how incredibly masculinized the history of the Black Consciousness Movement is. Black women are constantly erased from this moment and yet the political umbrella body of BCM was led by a woman.
Neé Mbanjwa*
