Nelson Mandela: a Revolutionary
One of the most important and inspiring figures in the century, Nelson Mandela is one of those people who have never backed down in the face of brute opposition.
Early life
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, in Transkei, South Africa. Mandela’s family never attended school. His father was the chief of the tribe and Mandela was the son of his third wife. Mandela was born to the royal line of the Thembu Dynasty. His great grandfather was the ruler of the Thembu people. His father was asked to step down from the position of a chief because of his involvement in corruption. Though his actual name was Rolihlahla, when he went to school, his teacher gave him the name “Nelson”. Mandela later said that it was a tradition for schools to give English names to African children.
He attended Clarkebury Boarding Institute, which was for all black African children, and made new friends there. His school focused on the importance of European culture, but Mandela was more interested in African traditions and culture. Then he went on to the College of Forte Hare, which was a renowned institution for blacks. He tried to stay out of all sorts of politics in his first year, but due to involvement in a boycott, he left without graduating and went to the University of Witwatersrand to study law.
In 1944, Mandela married Evelyn Mase after running off from his home when he discovered that his family had arranged a marriage for him. In 1996, after becoming the president, Evelyn and Nelson were divorced. Later, he married Garça Machel in 1998.
Revolution starts
In 1944, Mandela joined the ANC (African National Congress). Not pleased by the existing leadership, Mandela and a few others formed ANC Youth wing. Mandela protested against the running party’s apartheid policies. At first, he urged everyone to follow Gandhi’s non-violent policies but later he decided that this wouldn’t work and asked the ANC to form a violent wing. The ANC gave him the approval to form one and Mandela bombed a few government buildings, making sure no one would get hurt. He was accused of terrorism and was arrested in 1962.
He spent the next 27 years in jail sentenced to hard labor. He continued his LLB studies while in jail through correspondence. His initial sentence was lifelong jail, but while he was behind the bars, the world recognized him as a great leader, and due to international pressure, Mandela was released in February 1990.
Immediately after being released, Mandela continued his campaign against racial discrimination. His campaign and hardships finally paid off when all races were allowed to vote in the election of 1994 and Nelson Mandela was elected as the president.
This was a huge triumph for the whole marginalized black community and led to the fall of apartheid thinkers. Though equality of all races was not yet ensured, it was a huge leap
Inspiration
To millions of people of the last few generations, the life of Nelson Mandela has been a huge inspiration.
When he was in prison, he was physically and mentally bullied by the white inmates. He was classified as a “Class D” prisoner, the lowest class, and he was allowed one letter and one visit in six months. He had to break stones to gravel and still, he managed to study at night. One can only imagine how much willpower is required to endure all that and still have the strength to go ahead.
Like all great leaders, he firmly believed in achieving equality for his people and went through hell and back to accomplish it.
There was also his kindness that only adds to his great personality. When he was elected as the president, the white people in his country feared that Mandela would show blatant favoritism towards the blacks and may even turn against the whites. But proving these false, he made peace with his previous enemies and treated everyone equally.
For his entire life, Mandela fought discrimination against different races, believing that every human being was equal and should be loved equally.
“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