Nelson Mandela

All the world is mourning the death of Madiba. Mandela died last Thursday at 95. Here’s two articles from VOA: Southafricans mourn deatht of Nelson MandelaRemembering Nelson Mandela Around the World. He was and still is one of my role models, a great source of inspiration and hope and I remember the first time I prepared a lesson on Apartheid and his figure; it was many many years ago and he was still alive and kicking. I would have never imagined talking about him using the past tense and even now that I’m writing this post I feel as if he were still in this world because it it so in my soul and his wise words will last forever. I want to start with the song dedicated to him by the U2 Ordinary Love (Original Soundtrack). Apartheid in Afrikaans means “separation” and in Southafrica it saw its end in 1990 when Nelsonn Mandela was released after 27 years of imprisonment. Adopted by the successful Afrikaner National Party as a slogan in the 1948 election, apartheid extended and institutionalized existing racial segregation. Despite rioting and terrorism at home and isolation abroad from the 1960s onward, the white regime maintained the apartheid system with only minor relaxation until February 1991.

  • Watch the short documentary on his life by the Nelson Mandela Foundation. (12m’) & take down some notes.

Absolutely worth watching and listening to is Barack Obama’s message to Mandela for his 90th birthday. Dedicated to a man who showed us “we can  have the courage to be our better soul”.

  1. What’s the connection between Obama and Mandela?
  2. What are the VALUES Barack Obama reflected upon?
  3. Which barriers did they both try to tear down?

The next is Obama’s speech on his death.

 

A famous rock group such as The Simple Minds dedicated one of their songs to him: MANDELA DAY  which was released in 1989 on the B-side of the hit single “Belfast Child. The song was performed for the first time during Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute in 1988. UDHR stands for Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

I’d like to end up this post by using a video that clarifies the concept of UBUNTU “humanity towards others” . You’ll be then able to understand why the Linux computer operating system distributed as free and open source software is named after that  South African philosophy. 🙂

Last but not least here’s the song I used in class to introduce the topic Apaartheid: SUN CITY by Artists United Against Apartheid (1985). At the end of the song who is the famous political leader you saw? What’s the message of the song?

Featuring also Jimmy Cliff, Daryl Hall, Lou Reed, Jackson Browne, Bob Dylan, Nona Hendryx, Afrika Bambaataa, Bono, George Clinton, Peter Gabriel,  Grandmaster Melle Mel, Run DMC, Bruce Springsteen, John Oates,  Ringo Starr (drums), Pete Townshend, Keith Richards, Ron Wood (guitars), Shankar (double violin); Clarence Clemons (saxophone); Miles Davis (trumpet), Herbie Hancock… Did you spot out some of those singers? Here’s the lyrics of the song:  Sun City  Artists United Against Apartheid

We’re rockers and rappers united and strong

We’re here to talk about South Africa we don’t like what’s going on
It’s time for some justice it’s time for the truth
We’ve realized there’s only one thing we can do

I ain’t gonna play Sun City

Relocation to phony homelands
Separation of families I can’t understand
23 million can’t vote because they’re black
We’re stabbing our brothers and sisters in the back

I ain’t gonna play Sun City

Our government tells us we’re doing all we can
Constructive Engagement is Ronald Reagan’s plan
Meanwhile people are dying and giving up hope
This quiet diplomacy ain’t nothing but a joke

I ain’t gonna play Sun City

Boputhuswana is far away
But we know it’s in South Africa no matter what they say
You can’t buy me I don’t care what you pay
Don’t ask me Sun City because I ain’t gonna play

I ain’t gonna play Sun City

It’s time to accept our responsibility
Freedom is a privilege nobody rides for free
Look around the world baby it can’t be denied
Why are we always on the wrong side

I ain’t gonna play Sun City

Relocation to phony homelands
Separation of families I can’t understand
23 million can’t vote because they’re black
We’re stabbing our brothers and sisters in the back.

 *******************************************************************

The following videos are optional as they’re very long but might be of interest to some of you: Mandela and His Country (46 m’).

A great photographer Benny Gool in new York held an exhibition of photos of Mandela’s 30 years of life. Here’s his page on Facebook & a short video in Italian.

In the next video actress Lenora Crichlow sets off to discover the story of how Nelson Mandela brought peace to his country and what he means to people there today. She uncovers a more complex and fascinating picture of Mandela and his country than she ever imagined, discovering a vibrant Rainbow Nation but also learning more about the horrors of apartheid and the extent of poverty and violence. You’ll see Robben Island were Mandela spent 27 years in prison.

If you’re interested in History you can watch the whole documentary from the History Channel: the Miracle Rising SouthAfrica.

Thanks for your attention and may Madiba R.I.P. (rest in peace).

33 thoughts on “Nelson Mandela

  1. “A hero can be anyone. Even a man doing as simple and reassuring as putting a coat around a young boys shoulders to let him know the world hadn’t ended.” (Batman in “The dark knight rises”).
    Thinking of Mandela made me remember these lines taken from Batman. The reason for this is because Mandela was an ordinary simple man who fought all through his life for his ideals in a very spontaineous way. Mandela wasn’t the only one who did this, though. For example another such person was Steve Biko who had the same ideals and the same will (if not even stronger) to fight for the cause. However, a cruel destiny meant that he was not allowed to see the result of his efforts.
    The world would be a better place if there were people like this, who through their own semplicity and humility, have reached important goal for the sake of many peoples.

  2. Hello! 🙂
    Before reading this article I didn’t know so much about Nelson Mandela. The only things that I knew were: the fact that he spent a lot of time in prison and that he fought against apartheid, but I didn’t know what this world meant. In my opinion it’s important to know the story of this men. Mandela changed a country with his own strenght, with the strenght of his ideas. He showed to his people, that nobody is better, stronger or deserves more rights than the others. He fought to garantee a fundamental right to the people of his country: EQUALITY.
    Like Obama said in the video where he wishes happy birthday to Mandela, Nelson has been an inspiration for him and in my opinion not only for him but for many other people in the world. Nelson Mandela showed people that everyone can change the world in better if he really believes in his dreams.
    Mandela died, but the values he wanted to share with humanity and the ideals he wanted to pursue will forever be remembered and followed.

  3. Because all my ideas about Mandela had already been shared in the previous comments I tried to make something different:
    Dear Nelson Mandela,
    like Obama, I’m one of the countless millions who drew inspiration from your life. I crave to act like you have done during your life: you have brought so much love to a world filled of hate.
    With no fears; but with a firm belief in your hopes you fought against racial separation laws and white supremacy policies, and you had the chance to live enough to see the result of your actions.
    You lived your life animated by a strong necessity of being an activist and convinced that we don’t have to accept the world as it is , we can rebuilt it as it should be.
    Madiba, you’ve been, you’re, and you’ll remain an inspiration, a legend in the ages. With no violence but peace, with no arms but love you won the won the war against the racial discrimination.
    I look up to you thinking how brave, determinate and merciful you have been during your troubled life, twenty-seven years of jail didn’t change your mind, you were even prepared to die for your beliefs. This behavior belongs only to people who act by love and not by hate.
    All the world is remembering you, the most remarkable international figure spent kind words to describe your wonderful person, “ a man of tremendous moral courage, “who changed the direction of history”(G.H.W. Bush).
    The world will be eternal thankful for your courage, you demonstrate that social equality is achievable , that Ubuntu is possible, and as B.Obama said, we should honor you living trying to follow your example, to make our world a better place.
    God Bless You, Rest In Peace

  4. Nelson Mandela was an unordinary and extraordinary person.He was the teacher who has learnt everything in his life and has teached to everyone his life pills.He fought against apartheid and he fought for equal rights for his own country and people.I heard about him few times and I didn’t know him a lot but I’m knowing that I have never seen a person doing these things for his country…It’d be great to have persons like him in our government.Apartheid was really hard to fight but he has never gave up.He believed and helped his country and when he went out to the prison in 1990 he said: “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 will live together in harmony with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for, and to see realised. But my Lord, if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”This quote made me think…I’m reading a book called “Racism explained to my daughter” of Tahar Ben Jelloun and it talks about racism nowadays and it seems being reduced but it’s not true.Unfortunately racism can’t finish if ignorance still live.There can’t be peace if races make wars and they never end but not everything is lost….with our intellect we can destroy these walls like Mandela did,He destroyed apartheid even if he was in prison.Humanity comes always in the first position and he showed what is humanity and that we should build a society in which all South Africans (and also people from other countries), both black and white, will be able to walk tall, without and fear in their hearts.

  5. Hi everybody:)
    Nelson Mandela was an African politician. He was the first president to be elected after the end of apartheid in his country. He was for a long time one of the leaders of the anti apartheid movement and he played an important role for the end of apartheid. He fought to democracy, for freedom and equality among the people.I think that he was a great man and I admire him a lot because he put his ideals before of all. He almost died to accomplish his mission. He was sent in prison for a long time and risked his life everyday because not everyone thought it like him about apartheid. His most important phrase that strucks me and everytime that i read it sorprises me is: peace is not a dream but can became reality. He wants to say that ndreams can be reality but you must believe in them. And I think that this is true.

  6. Hi everybody!
    Nelson Mandela was and will always be an important person, not only for his country but for the whole world . A very brave man , who decided to “sacrifice ” himself , and fight against Apartheid , to obtain freedom , not only for himself , but for all the black people who were ” threatened ” by the law of apartheid.
    For this he was imprisoned for many years, but that didn’t stop her determination.
    Today people remember him as a warrior, a fighter , a person who sacrificed himself for the world, for equality , for freedom. If these things are now a right for all , it is only thanks to him .
    Watching these videos I discovered many things about the life of Nelson, for example, that was just a guy when he began to fight for equality and justice. He pursued his purposes , persevering , until realize , and this has made him a great man.
    Nelson Mandela will not be never forgotten , his work , his tenacity and his courage will remain etched in the memory of all the people who believed and supported him.
    Bye

  7. Hello mates!
    Before watching the videos and reading the news about Nelson Mandela in the blog I didn’t know a lot of things about him, but after his death I discovered that he was an important person who was worth knowing.
    Mandela did many important things in his life but in my opinion he didn’t realize completely how much he supported South Africa. This is due to the fact that he did all this things not because he was obliged or he wanted to become famous, but because he felt the need to help his country and to create a nation where all people were free.
    I think that he is a really admirable man as even if he was imprisoned for 28 years he continued to fight fot his ideals also during the period of incarceration. In addition to this, when he was released he didn’t lose his force, his courage and he had the same willing to reach the main important objective for black African people, which was to get freedom and equal rights.
    Mandela for me is the example that when you really want something you have to fight for it with all your forces and determination, only in this way you will reach it. He succeeded to do this and all of us can do the same.
    Mandela has been important not only for the African population but for all the world, also for the most famous celebrities. People are grateful to him for what he did in his life and I think it is right that his name remains in the story forever.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOInHHWkGlk#t=307
    This is the link of a song that has been dedicated to Nelson Mandela, I love it so much and I hope you love it too.

  8. Good afternoon!
    What can I say about Nelson Mandela? Well, as you well know, he was the first black president of South Africa. But he wasn’t just a brilliant politician, he was also a source of inspiration for millions of people…just like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King.
    When he was a child he saw freedom as a gift, but mostly as a right, and for that right but also for equality and fraternity he has fought against a racist and unscrupulous government which oppressed and exploited people.
    He has used almost all his life to achieve his ideals, for example in 1962 he was captured and imprisoned in Robben Island, where he spent wrongly 27 years of his life..
    Luckily has been helped by people who have never abandoned him like his first wife, who continued the protest while he was in jail.
    Finally, after a life of sacrifice, effort and pain Mandela was able to rise to power, claiming the rights of every man and trying to revive the fortunes of the country but mostly he’s almost managed to realize his dreams. And also thanks to him if today black people and white people get along and have the same rights and duties.
    The thing that struck me the most was that despite his death, he continues to bring people together, make them understand the importance of being united and remember the importance of justice and equality…
    I just hope that our generation do not ruin all the hard work of these people, that appreciate what we have achieved with great effort but especially that follow the example of this important person.

    These are some murals dedicated to Nelson Mandela from all over the world .. and this is another way for you to realize its importance, not only in Africa but an importance recognized all over the world..i really like them! especially this:

    https://www.google.it/search?q=hoffman&espv=210&es_sm=91&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=xb-xUo72JMToywPH2ICYCQ&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=601#es_sm=91&espv=210&q=nelson+mandela+mural&tbm=isch&facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=JxEaBZnPNI6RVM%3A%3B7Ui1ApjGrjlvtM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fww4.hdnux.com%252Fphotos%252F25%252F15%252F55%252F5561199%252F5%252F628x471.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.sfgate.com%252Fnews%252Fworld%252Farticle%252FAP-PHOTOS-Mandela-remembered-around-the-world-5040382.php%3B628%3B388

    And I’ve also found this song, dedicated to Nelson Mandela when he left the jail, and I think that today has a most important meaning:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfk13uUuD8Q

  9. Hi there!
    The world was very lucky to have Nelson Mandela. He was one of the (unfortunately) few people who really fought for freedom and equality, for us is simple to say: “i hate racism” “i don’t want all that discrimination” but do we really make something CONCRETE for all this mess? No, we’re able only to talk, and then we give up, we avoid these problems. But Nelson had the courage to stand up and to spread to all over the world the will to fight against all this, and he did it! Although he was in prison for more than 20 years he doesn’t gave up, and continued to fight saying “I have fought against white domination and black domination”.

    Finally there was a men who was ready to die for the human dignity, the equality and for the freedom. And I, no, we admire that.
    RIP Mandela, you were, you are and you will be our hero, no matter if you died, because your words and all that you made for us are still here and there will be here forever.

  10. The guys of my age in my opinion don’t have a clear vision of what people like Nelson Mandela represent.
    And I include myself between these young people who don’t really care about these personality.
    But I don’t want to make it a fault of today’s youth because I think that depends on the fact we were born when these types of problems as Apartheid are more rare and moderate.
    We have not experienced those dramatic years as perhaps happened to those who have more years of us and so we feel less involved.
    I think that what we know about Nelson Mandela is very little, well, we know who he is and what he did, but then our knowledge stop here.
    We will never know what it was really Apartheid for black people of South Africa because we haven’t lived it on our skin, we can only try to imagine.
    All this make me regrets because it does not do justice to the efforts and sufferings of these people.
    With this I am not referring only to Nelson Mandela, but to all those people who sacrified their lives in the struggle for human rights and equality.
    So in conclusion I want to say that I really admire Nelson for what he did and I really thank the fact that there are people like him who never give up even in front of obstacles that seem too big for one person. I think that as young people we should be closer to these role models and take example from them, so maybe we would live in a better world. 😉

  11. I totally agree with the comments of my classmates above, and I found his speeches and life somehow inspiring as well: I see him as the symbol of forgiveness. It’s not easy to forgive, fight for democracy and equality after all that years in prison.
    However, although I’m hopeful about humanity after a man like him, I’m quite disappointed to see things like this: http://espresso.repubblica.it/internazionale/2013/12/06/news/eredita-mandela-1.144457

    It seems that not all of us had understood what Madiba was trying to teach us, however I’ll not loose hope, I know that’s plenty of people who learned from his life and work and it’s our duty to spread the ideas of Madiba and preserve his hard work: there are countries where injustice is still present, we have to open our eyes and all think about this.

  12. As Luca said, I don’t want to repeat the things that the others said, and so I’ll be very brief, giving an opinion.

    I don’t know perfectly all the things that Mandela did in his life, but perhaps I understand his principles, what he probably wanted to convey to the world: freedom, equality and justice.
    These are necessary in the present society, because they make it unified, without differences.
    But these three principles “haven’t it easy”, because probably inside us we’re missing of courage, conviction and persistence.

    I think that our lack should be covered: indeed it’s thanks to them if we’re able to achieve a goal, a target, and freedom, for instance, apparently “simple”, actually it’s one of the most complex concept/idea and to be deal it’s necessary a big strength of mind.

  13. I think I’m not able to do a comment for this great figure of are contemporary world so I would like only to say some words. I always been interest about Nelson Mandela and South Africa, and for this I thank my mother, that involved me to search and learnt about the figures and events of our society and culture. I think that Madiba is the one of the most influent person of our story and is an ispirtion for all of us as Obama said “he was courage, far-sighted and convincing” and this the qualities, the values that all of us should point to. His tenacity I think it’s the thing to admire and honor more because this is the most important thing, without this you can’t solve anything. The fact that made him an icon is the forgiveness. This is the most hard experience that everyone of us prove at least once in the life and is difficult to do this, especially if this was an outrage, an injustice. I share the message that Obama did for the birthday of Mandela. This icon united a country in harmony and this is very hard in history. I wanted to go to South Africa before his death to listen the people and what is South Africa today, but I think now, that he is no more, his message and his country will remember him more and will share him for posterity with more emotion. I am nobody and what i said has already herd but I think the real people who should be remembered and show it to the world and pass it down should be South Africans because he was “their man”.

  14. I want to make this comment a little different. I will not repeat the same things about Mandela of the other guys. Mandela made neverending wonderful actions and he was much more than a person, it was a symbol for humanity, it was THE guide. I want understand his greatness with his most touching quotations in my opinion.
    “It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us.”
    “Resentment is like drinking poison hoping it kills the enemy.”
    “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
    “The goodness of human beings is like a flame that can be hidden but will never go out at all.”
    These four quotations made a kind of path. At first we can’t have fear, we have to show to others our beauty. The envy, the resentment don’t lead to anything but we have to fight using the most powerful weapon that anyone can have: education because inside of all people there is still a light that never will blow out.
    Hoping that there will be a new Mandela in future.
    Bye

  15. What Mandela did was amazing, inspiring, touching, something that makes you proud of belong to the human race, because if not for these people who try everything against the common thoughts, the mankind would be just garbage. Fortunately many people are like Mandela; of course it’s impossible for everyone of them to fulfil their ideas of freedom, equality or any other dream they have, but the will to change the world is the most important thing.
    Unfortunately, we now live in a society that makes us think that the whole world is like the one we live everyday; we think that mankind has progressed so much that there aren’t wars, genocides or people needing help anymore, or at least that the situation is different from 50 years ago. That’s absolutely false, the only thing that has changed is that we now think this and so the chances to stop the fools who still want to oppress other people are minimal; we think to have control of everything, but there are still country in which the same things that happened in South Africa, or in Germany during WWII, or in Soviet Union, or in Rwanda, or in Cambodia… are underway. Just think about China, Syria or North Korea. Obviously we tend to think that things like the Holocaust are worse, but we can only judge watching the past, so we must stop everything before realizing what’s really going on. In history, it has always happened the opposite; if mankind really wants to progress, it needs to wake up.
    Mandela left many messages, but we and our society are ignoring them, even though we think to follow them; if we want to remember Mandela, it’s useless to keep saying how good he was, how many brave actions he did… humanity should commit to prevent new segregations, new massacres, new disasters. And I mean commit with real effort, not just with fair words.

  16. I would start this comment with a simple idea… Every us knows (or have at least an idea) about what Mandela did during his life and surely will do also after his death. He promoted equality, he would a world without prejudices, where people are not judged for their aspects, where slavery is a crime cause no one have something less of another. A world where people were not objects, cause people can not became a waste. A world of forgiveness and liberty where human dignity is always respected….
    This is what I could say if somebody asks me to introduce Mandela in very few words but it appear like a joke, is obviously not enough and I don’t wanna disrespect his figure (never enough words will be able to describe his personality and his ideals) but I made it so short only to focus my and yours attention on and another aspect that too often is forgot and that I consider now more important.

    What I want to say you is that Mandela was a MAN. He was a man like every us, what he made during his life is magnificent and we know everything about his life, but sometimes I have the impression that we forget that he was “only” a man, a great man, that had the courage and the power to believe on his ideals. The most important thing that we should learn from him is not what he had done but what we can do now to be worthy of our life.
    I’m sure and I can sustain that most of us have the same capacity in dialogue and charm, but we often lack of strong ideals and will to follow them. Surely the society where we live influence differently our thoughts but we have to understand that if something goes wrong is (also) our task to make it goes better.
    I don’t want to say that every one can have the fame of Mandela, but, in my opinion, every one can have his strength to follow the target of his life.
    Our world needs more people like Mandela, why can not be us those people?

    • You need to have faith, deep values and beliefs (what you called ideals) great education, humility, passion and all the qualities of a leader we analyzed in class. Yes you can DO something to make your life worth, it’s about time to act! Furthermore as you said you are the “masters” of your destiny, let’s stop blaming our society.

  17. Hi everybody, 🙂

    thinking about Nelson Mandela I can only think about a great man and a great hero. He became from a poor family, from a little village in the South-Africa, however he succeded to eliminate racism and discrimination and he brought equality, respect and peace in his country. In all his life he overcame all the obstacles and all the problems that appeared in front of him: he believed in his dreams and he fought to make his dreams real. He spent 27 years in prison, only because he fought against the force of the govern, against the abuses of whites and against violence because he wanted that all the blacks were considered equal to whites. Mandela will always be an example of power and love for your own homeland.
    He was a real warrior, but he didn’t fight with guns or other various weapons; he used intelligence, love and he organized a lot of peaceful manifestations.
    This is a dark period for all mankind: we have lost one of the most important, and inspiring man of all time. We have lo learn a lot from Malala: we have to follow our dreams, we have to try to realize our dreams with full commitment. We can’t stop in front of the first obstacle if we want to change the world and improve our living conditions.
    Malala has taught us a lot and I hope that our world will have a lot of heroes like him. He won the hardest battles during all his life, but unfortunatly he stopped in front of the disease.
    Lastly I want to thank this man because of his teachings: I have learnt a lot from you and certainly like you I will never give up my dreams!

    I really liked the video “Mandela day SIMPLE MINDS” because in which there a lot of inspiring tenses, for example:
    – A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination;
    – a good education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world;
    -nobody has the right to treat you as his or her slave, and you should not make anyone your slave.

  18. I really appreciate watching these videos about Nelson Mandela.. they touched me in a way that I can’t explain plain… I’d simply say that my interest got fully involved while listening to those speech and documentaries.
    That’s that, although I’d rather have watched this all together in class, since the moment I view it I was alone, and I felt like I wanted somebody next to me. We’d have shared each other’s emotional reactions and even compare ’em between us.
    Yeah, (once again) I understood how much it matters to have 2 or more people around you ♥

    Ohhhyess. It is with bright eyes that I realize (little by little) how much this man meant to the world. A man “that much remarkable” who insisted in change and transformation of the society with impregnable kindness, forgiveness, humility and leadership. Doing Justice. !!
    In his life (even ahead of the time) he inspired and changed the way we think. Once we change the way we think, anything is possible.

    Food for thought ✯

    “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 will live together in harmony with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for, and to see realised. But my Lord, if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”
    (Nelson Mandela, from the speech delivered in Cape Town on the day he was released from prison 27 years later, on 11 February 1990)

    “Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another…”

    I’m sure that a true leader, just as Mandela is, who embodied ( and still embodies) the very best of the human spirit will not easily, if ever, be forgotten. I rely on his story to be told and known from generation to generation to come.
    I know it’s all up to us now, and actually I find no problem.. I say we’re promising! Don’t we?
    REST IN PEACE NOW, MANDELA, BURIED TREASURE.

  19. hi everybody!
    I reallly appreciate watching this videos, because before I didn’t know some things of his life (for example the fact that he spent 27 years in prison). I think as I hope every person thinks, Nalson was a hero: a person who didn’t have fear to believe in what he dreamed and to go against who wanted to tear down his dreams.
    I like so much (also of what I was unaware) the Obama’s speechs too. I guess that his words are true and heartfelt!
    As my classmates said, I admire his courage and strenght. He NEVER NEVER GAVE UP. It’s the same slogan to be used in this moment in Italy, the situation is very hard but we must’n give up! Although they are different stories at the end are not so much. As a metter of fact for me what Mandela wanted to do, was something concrete for Sauth Africa and also to send a moral message to the whole world.
    Talk about Mandela, remember me Malala. the second is stiil young but maybe could get a symbol for his country and why not for the world.

    thanks 🙂

  20. Hey y’all
    Well, what should I say, I first got to hear about Mandela while I was attending the 2nd or 3rd year of secondary school, when the rugby coach gave us an unusual task, he wanted us to watch the movie ‘Invictus’. I watched it, I loved it. Mostly because of all the rugby stuff, I guess, but apart from that, I discovered an important figure I had never heard about before.
    I must admit I did not look for any other information about him, but I kept his name on mind, and it was worth it. I didn’t know much about his life, I had been told about his campaign against Apartheid, but nothing more. Now that I’ve learnt all this things about his life and deeds I feel much better…like lighter, I don’t know how to make it clearer.
    I found out that, even without knowing any of the things he said through his life, I agreed with all of them, and that made me smile…I had already written down on my own some of the things he said, and I felt very proud of that.
    ‘I am what I am because of who we all are’

    ‘I was not born with a hunger to be free. I was born free – free in every way that I could know […]. It was only when I began to learn that my boyhood freedom was an illusion, when I discovered as a young man that my freedom had already been taken from me that I began to hunger for it.’

  21. Hi everybody!
    I think that Nelson Mandela was,and is,one of the most important mans in the story of humanity.
    I think he could be a source of inspiration for any person, it has changed the way of thinking of the dull and closed society of the past. Maybe people thought he was crazy or hopeless. But his tenacity and perseverance led him to go all the way to what he believed.
    This is exactly what everyone should understand: Follow all our dreams, against all odds.
    I had the opportunity to study what has made this man, always in English but in scuola media. I think that speaking another time, although the circumstances are so tragic has helped me to better understand what has made this great leader. I was struck by his philosophy, in particular the concept of UBUNTU, which if applied to today’s society, would ensure a better future for us all.
    So rememeber, NEVER GIVE UP, AND FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS (as someone teached me :])
    bye, Cristiano

  22. Hi mates!
    There would be a lot to say about Nelson Mandela and all his life, full of pitfalls but also of hope and strength, but now I don’t want to repeat things that every one already knows.
    Watching those videos I realized that Mandela was only a guy when he started being an activist and when he started putting efforts into the pursuit of human equality and justice. And so I understood that when somebody believes in something so much, the age doesn’t matter anymore. I admire his courage and his power, but above all his determination; once he said one sentence that became the topic sentence of his conduct: “This is an ideal which I hope to live for and I hope to get . But, if necessary, is an ideal for which I am prepared to die” and it shows how the races’ equality and the humans’ rights were important to him.
    I hope that his life and his personality from now on, will be of service for our generation and will leave a spirited mark to all of us.

    “I am the master of my fate:
    I am the captain of my soul.”

  23. Hello,
    usually I start my comments with “in my opinion”, but this time I Can’t. Everyone in this whole world think that Mandela was (it’s hard to talk in past tenses) an exemple of strenght, freedom, human rights, justice, hope, love, respect.. So I tought a lot, who’s Nelson Mandela in my opinion? Certanly he was’ta normal man: how many of us after 27 years in prison would come out declaring “I have fought against white domination and black domination”. Maybe he was crazy or maybe he was an angel. But after all the conclusion is just one, there are no sufficiently words to describe a person like him. Doubt one.. UBUNTU.
    “Let freedom reing” (1994, speech of the first black president of South Africa)

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