HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO A MAN WHO LEADS FREELY
Today, Nelson Mandela turns 93. I'm not going to assume that all of my readers know who he is. Yes, maybe you've heard of him but can't exactly place him, especially if you are a younger reader and if you live in America. We Americans tend to not always know much about the rest of the world and the newsmakers in far off places.
Nelson Mandela was the first Black African to lead South Africa as its president after apartheid ended. During my teenage years in the 1980's, apartheid was often in the American news as much of the world was starting to put pressure on South Africa to end its legalized discrimination and extreme segregation based on racial identity. And when I moved to Swaziland in 1988, apartheid was still in place but momentum to do away with is was increasing in the neighboring country of South Africa.
Nelson Mandela had spent 27 years in prison for his actions against the White South African government. He was released from prison in 1990 and was elected in 1994 as president by a voting population that included all races represented in that nation. Apartheid had ended and a new chapter had begun. Nelson Mandela chose to take the high road, one that was clearly guided by forgiveness and reconciliation. He could have allowed his time in prison and all those years of injustice against the Blacks to make him bitter and bent on revenge. Instead, it made him intent on laying a strong foundation of equality and justice, a foundation that offered hope and opportunity.
Today, in honor of Nelson Mandela's birthday, I offer quotes from a man who has truly shaped a nation, and in fact, influenced not just a continent but the entire world by his example. Even if we don't agree with all his politics and stands, the grace and mercy he extended to his enemies is one we can all learn from.
Today, Nelson Mandela turns 93. I'm not going to assume that all of my readers know who he is. Yes, maybe you've heard of him but can't exactly place him, especially if you are a younger reader and if you live in America. We Americans tend to not always know much about the rest of the world and the newsmakers in far off places.
Nelson Mandela was the first Black African to lead South Africa as its president after apartheid ended. During my teenage years in the 1980's, apartheid was often in the American news as much of the world was starting to put pressure on South Africa to end its legalized discrimination and extreme segregation based on racial identity. And when I moved to Swaziland in 1988, apartheid was still in place but momentum to do away with is was increasing in the neighboring country of South Africa.
Nelson Mandela had spent 27 years in prison for his actions against the White South African government. He was released from prison in 1990 and was elected in 1994 as president by a voting population that included all races represented in that nation. Apartheid had ended and a new chapter had begun. Nelson Mandela chose to take the high road, one that was clearly guided by forgiveness and reconciliation. He could have allowed his time in prison and all those years of injustice against the Blacks to make him bitter and bent on revenge. Instead, it made him intent on laying a strong foundation of equality and justice, a foundation that offered hope and opportunity.
Today, in honor of Nelson Mandela's birthday, I offer quotes from a man who has truly shaped a nation, and in fact, influenced not just a continent but the entire world by his example. Even if we don't agree with all his politics and stands, the grace and mercy he extended to his enemies is one we can all learn from.
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For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.************
I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.************If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness.************If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.************It always seems impossible until its done.************It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.************There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children.************There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires.************
There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.************
There is no such thing as part freedom.************
There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.************
We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.
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