Nelson Mandela
guided South Africa
from the shackles of apartheid to a multi-racial democracy, as an icon of peace
and reconciliation who came to embody the struggle for justice around the
world.
Imprisoned for
nearly three decades for his fight against white minority rule Mandela never
lost his people’s emancipation. He was determined to bring down apartheid while
avoiding a civil war. His prestige and charisma helped him win the support of
the world.
"I hate
race discrimination most intensely and in all its manifestations. I have fought
it all during my life; I will
fight it now, and will do so until the end of my days,’’ Mandela said in his
acceptance speech on becoming South
Africa 's first black president in 1994,……. “
The time for the healing of the wounds has come. The moment to bridge the
chasms that divide us has come.” “We have, at last, achieved our political
emancipation.’’
In 1993, mandela
was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, an honor he shared with F.W. de Klerk, the
white African leader who had freed him from prison three ears earlier and
negotiated the end of apartheid.
Mandela went
on to play a prominent role on the world stage as an advocate of human dignity
in the face of challenges ranging from political repression to AIDS.
He formally
left public life in June 2004 before his 86th birthday', telling his adoring
countrymen: "Don't call me. I'll call you." But he remained one of
the world’s most revered public figures, combining celebrity sparkle with an
unwavering message of freedom, respect and human rights.
"He is at
die epicenter of our time, ours in South Africa , and yours, wherever
you are," Nadine Gordimer, the South African writer and Nobel Laureate for
Literature, once remarked.
The years
Mandela spent behind bars made him the world's most celebrated political
prisoner and a leader of mythic stature for millions of black South Africans
and other oppressed people far beyond his country's borders.
Charged with
capital offences in the 1963 Rivonia Trial, his statement from the dock was his
political testimony. "During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this
struggle of the African people. 1 have fought against white domination, and 1
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," he told the court.
"It is an ideal I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is
an ideal for which I am prepared to die."Friends adored Mandela and fondly
called him "Madiba," the clan name by which he was known. people
lauded his humanity, kindness and dignity.
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