Image Source: 2 Oceans Vibe News.
Mortality and Immortality: Nelson Mandela (1918-2013), African National Congress leader in the 1990s, who spent 27 years in prison for opposing apartheid in South Africa, has died. He became that country's first black president in 1994 and was one of the great figures of the 20th century.
He became a national father figure who changed history. He helped build a new South Africa out of the outrage of apartheid. Prior to his sentencing on 20 April 1964, Mandela made a famous courtroom statement:
"During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to the struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal for which I hope to live and to see realized. But my Lord, if it needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."
Mandela court statement, in which he insisted he was willing to die for the ideal of 'a democratic and free society' (1964). Video Source: Youtube (original audio recording held at the British Library).
In the 1980s, the opposition to apartheid, popularized by British musicians such as Peter Gabriel,
shaped the sensibilities of a generation. In June 1990, I went with my friends to see Nelson Mandela in person at Ottawa's foreign dignitaries airport when he visited Canada with his wife, Winnie. One of my friends, who studied politics, includes among
her treasured possessions a ballot from South Africa's first free democratic elections in 1994.
It is hard now to recall the political promise of the years 1989 and 1990. The Berlin Wall fell in 1989. The Cold War was over, and with Mandela finally free on 11 February 1990, a world of reconciliation and hope awaited. May we all recover that hope and not lose sight of Mandela's ideal of democratic and free societies.
It is hard now to recall the political promise of the years 1989 and 1990. The Berlin Wall fell in 1989. The Cold War was over, and with Mandela finally free on 11 February 1990, a world of reconciliation and hope awaited. May we all recover that hope and not lose sight of Mandela's ideal of democratic and free societies.
"The last page of a letter smuggled from Mandela's prison cell on Robben Island in 1977,
containing his signature and prisoner number, 46664." Image Source: CNN.
Ballot from the first South African free democratic election, 1994. Image Source: icollector.
Release: "South African artist Marco Cianfanelli has erected a monument to Mandela at the spot where [Mandela's] ... arrest took place [on 5 August 1962] - in a town called Howick, 90 kilometres south of the city of Durban." The sculpture comprises 50 steel columns to represent 50 years since Mandela's arrest in 2012. Image Source: CBC.
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Mandela was imprisoned for conspiring and supporting acts of terrorism, mainly the blowing up of infrastructure (power lines) plotting to place bombs in public places (railway stations etc.) and stockpiling explosives and weapons to carry out terrorist attacks.
ReplyDeleteHe was not imprisoned for opposing the South African Government.
Had he been convicted of the same crimes in the USA, he would almost certainly have received the death sentence, in Canada or Europe, a life sentence in prison where he would probably have died years ago.