Nelson Mandela

    ❝It matters not how strait the gate, how charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.❞

    Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born on July 18th, 1918 and died on December 5th, 2013 at the age of ninety-five. Ever since he was young, Mandela was committed to eliminating the apartheid system, a policy which ensured that blacks & whites had to work and go to school separately. At first, he participated in non-violent protests, but when the apartheid government responded to their protests with violence, Mandela co-founded the militant Umkhonto we Sizwe to overthrow the government. In order to achieve this, he & many black South Africans traveled overseas illegally to train the army. Because he encouraged South Africans to go on strike and because he left South Africa illegally, he was sentenced to prison for twenty-seven years. When he was finally released in 1990, a civil war was imminent; Mandela cooperated with the president at the time to avoid the war, eliminate apartheid and establish multiracial elections. Mandela was elected as the first black president of South Africa; he lead from 1995 to 1999. He was also the Secretary General of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1998 to 1999. During and after his presidential reign, Mandela promoted reconciliation between blacks & whites. Nelson Mandela won more than 250 honours, including the Nobel Peace Prize & US Presidential Medal of Freedom. On July 19th, Mandela also has his own holiday--the Nelson Mandela Day. Mandela is an important figure because of his persistence to fight for freedom against racial discrimination, and for his changing of the lives of both black and white South Africans forever; he gave his whole life to the cause of freedom, equal rights, and democracy for all South Africans. This is why Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, a man dedicated to helping the lives of others, should be remembered by us, South Africa, & the whole world.

    Click here for a link to President Obama's speech at Nelson Mandela's funeral; click here for a more thorough biography of Nelson Mandela.

   

    ❝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 which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.❞