I am writing this article as this Great man is ill in hospital in South Africa.
Nelson Mandela
Has been an inspiration for not only the nation of South Africa, but for people right around the world. This is a life well lived. Sometimes controversial, sometimes misunderstood, and other times influential and statesman like.
Mandela was born in July 1918 in the Cape Province of South Africa. He was given the forename Rolihlahla, which is a Xhosa term roughly translated to mean “troublemaker”. What an appropriate name that later turned out to be.
After studying Law and failing his last year 3 times, Mandela became more and more involved with the ANC especially the Youth League which he lead for several years. As his influence grew he advocated more direct action such as strikes and boycotts, and eventually he came to the opinion that the ANC had no alternative to armed and violent resistance, to the apartheid regime that was in place.
“…Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
The famous quote that is often attributed to Nelson Mandela from his inaugural speech. Unfortunately he did not utter Marianne Williamson’s wonderful words.
In 1962 Mandela was arrested an imprisoned for inciting workers to strike and leaving the country without permission. His initial jail term was 5 years. Later in 1964 new charges were brought against him and a Life sentence was imposed. Mandela would spend the next 27 years behind bars.
“No one in my family had ever attended school […] On the first day of school my teacher, Miss Mdingane, gave each of us an English name. This was the custom among Africans in those days and was undoubtedly due to the British bias of our education. That day, Miss Mdingane told me that my new name was Nelson. Why this particular name I have no idea.”
— Mandela, 1994
