11th February 1990, the day 71 years old Nelson Mandela was released from prison. Only a handful of people knew what he looked like. After all, he had spent nearly three decades in bleak isolation in Robben Island & Pollsmoor Prison. Thanking South African anti-apartheid groups and the world community for campaigning for his release, the African National Congress leader, Mandela’s first words to the cheering crowd contained a message of peace. “I greet you all in the name of peace, democracy and freedom for all,” he said. “I stand here before you not as a prophet, but as a humble servant of you, the people.”
Nelson Mandela had to wage a war in an era, when the black South Africans could not vote, their hospitals were poorly staffed, under-funded and woefully inadequate, compared to their White counterparts. Trains, buses, and even ambulances were segregated. The blacks were forbidden from White Only zones without a permit, and were forced to resettle away from the areas that the Government deemed inappropriate.
He once famously said, “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
Born in 1918, Rolihlahla Dalibhunga Mandela was raised in the village of Qunu, Transkei, in the Eastern Cape. He was one of the 13 children from a family, which had close links to the royal house of the Thembu people. He was only 9 when his father died of tuberculosis. He lived in a poor township in Johannesburg, working as a security guard at first, and then as a clerk at a law firm, and ultimately as a guerrilla leader. Mr. Mandela moved towards the collision with state power, that would change his own and his country’s fate.
After being convicted of treason by the white minority government, Mandela spent 27 years in prison. Prison had taken away the prime of his life. It had taken away his family life. The glaring sun on the white limestone caused permanent damage to his eyes. His relations with some of his children were strained. His marriage to Winnie Mandela would end in divorce. But prison had never robbed him off his humanity, or his growing popularity, and the worldwide support.
Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first black president and an enduring icon of the struggle against racial oppression, served one term as South Africa’s president. He steered the divided country from the apartheid era to democracy. Mabiba, as he is fondly called, is the recipient of many prestigious honors like Nobel Peace Prize and Bharat Ratna.
KYS likes to pay glorious tribute to this great man by quoting one of his inspirational lines – “Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success, if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do.” Hence by, with Nelson Mandela, we at KYS are starting a new column named Toon-spiration, coined out of Cartoon and Inspiration!
KnowYourStar.com (KYS) wishes all it’s readers a very happy and prosperous 2014. We look forward for your continued support and we cherish your proud association with us. We promise to bring you more inspiring stories and make 2014- inspiring, impacting and enchanting!