From prison to presidency: Remembering Nelson Mandela

by Apoorva Rangan and Sheridan Tobin|December 6, 2013

Remembering Madiba: "He belongs to the ages," said President Obama, and many Harker students agree. Nelson Mandela, who died yesterday, spent the majority of his 95 years campaigning for racial equality in every available platform, from prison to the presidency.

Remembering Madiba: “He belongs to the ages,” said President Obama, and many Harker students agree. Nelson Mandela, who died yesterday, spent the majority of his 95 years campaigning for racial equality in every available platform, from prison to the presidency.

Flags around the world flew at half mast after South African leader Nelson Mandela died on Thursday of health issues, surrounded by family.

Mandela played an instrumental role in ridding the country of apartheid, taking his message of equality from prison to the presidency. He was 95.

“Our nation has lost its greatest son,” said current South African president Jacob Zuma.

Before Mandela’s touch, South Africa lay divided on racial lines, with rampant cultural and legislative discrimination. Apartheid policies delegated native South Africans to less than ten percent of the nation’s land.

By the 1950s, only blacks with sufficient documentation in the form of “pass books” were allowed on white land, according to the United Nations Cyber School Bus. In 1952, with the African National Congress (ANC), a protesting young Mandela burned his pass book.

In the following years, his involvement in the ANC grew, and Mandela was sentenced to life in jail for sabotage in 1973. During his imprisonment, South Africa felt increasing international and domestic pressure to end apartheid. In 1990, after 27 years, he stepped outside, a free man.

Following his release, he became South Africa’s first black president and served from 1994 until 1999. His last public appearance was at the 2010 World Cup final.

Art teacher Jaap Bongers, who has visited Africa frequently over the past six years, sees Mandela’s impact on the region.

“He’s bigger than human over there,” he said. “He was imprisoned 27 years. If he had just retracted his remarks and his beliefs, they would have released him. But he stuck with it. To be steadfast in your convictions, that’s the important thing.”

Bongers identified the karmic nature of Mandela’s long life.

“Because he lived the way that he did, it’s almost like he got back those 27 years that he spent in prison,” he said.

For history teacher Naomi Hwang, who has visited South Africa for the past eight summers to mentor second generation Chinese youth, Mandela’s impact cannot be quantified.

“Any experience you have in South Africa and any safety you may feel while in the country was probably made possible with the help of Mandela’s efforts,” Hwang said.

For many members of the Upper School community, including aspiring disability rights activist Zina Jawadi (12), Mandela’s life contained lessons on inclusiveness, humility, and selflessness.

“Nelson Mandela serves as an excellent role model for all minorities,” she said, adding that the leader inspired her to do the same. “I wish to impact the lives of millions of people with disabilities, just like he changed the world.”

 Despite all of the challenges Mandela faced in his lifetime, he maintained his beliefs and forgave those who wronged him. His message of hope is one for the ages.

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” — Nelson Mandela

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/nelson-mandela-dead-obama-statement-2013-12#ixzz2mfqqLQ7L

Edited because previous quote were words from pop spiritual writer and guru, Marianne Williamson.