Celebrating the
Extraordinary Life of Nelson Mandela and
The People’s Struggle in
South Africa
“Albeit an extraordinary human, Nelson Mandela [was] a human
being nonetheless.” One of Mr. Mandela’s
daughters reputedly offered those sober words in response to an inquiry
regarding her impressions of the recently released movie, A Long Walk to Freedom, depicting the life of her much beloved and
venerated father. She further suggested
the necessity of viewing the film in silence and solitude to allow her to
grapple honestly with the contrast between the heroic and mythological figure
of late twentieth century international relations and her very human father who
was as susceptible to mistakes, error, temptation and fear as any other
person. Mandela’s daughter’s insistence
upon a balanced assessment of her father’s life and legacy predicts the forthcoming
judgment of history. Within the next
quarter of a century and beyond, the post-apartheid gloss and grandiloquent
characterizations of historical heroes will yield to the hard, realistic and
sober analysis of history. Future
generations throughout the world and Black South Africans specifically will
assess Mr. Mandela’s legacy and share their perspective of its successes and
failures.
Contemporarily, with praise and thanksgiving to Almighty
God, I celebrate his inspiration for his nation and the world. Among the countless lessons he taught us upon
his release from twenty-seven years of unjust imprisonment are the importance
of forgiveness and the necessity of forsaking bitterness and revenge. Though he forgave his oppressors, he rightly
insisted upon truth, dignity, honor and respect as conditions and means of
achieving reconciliation. History’s
future judgment will determine if his decisions as the first duly and
democratically elected Black President of the Republic of South Africa were merely
symbolic yet profound and enduring or whether his governance actually laid an
economic, political and social foundation and infrastructure to enable future
generations of Black South Africans to actualize their individual and
collective potential. Nevertheless,
history will forever vindicate Mr. Mandela and countless and nameless millions
of his people for their commitment to a vision of country free of rabid and
reprehensible apartheid. As we celebrate
his extraordinary life and legacy, we do as justly as we simultaneously honor
and commemorate the anonymous persons who literally gave their lives for a free
South Africa.
Wholeheartedly, I suggest we discard Carlyle’s “great man of
history” thesis as we rightly celebrate Mr. Mandela’s contributions to ending
apartheid and building a post-apartheid South Africa. I suggest we temper grandiose
characterizations of his role in the people’s struggle for justice and
freedom. Due veneration for his
heartfelt commitment to the liberation of his people does not necessitate
concretizing a mythic personality who accomplished grand deeds with unusual
foresight and superhuman motives. The
people’s struggle is always greater than any one individual. Admittedly, the confluence of historical and
contemporary circumstances catapults a person to leadership and celebrity. Yet, it is generations of Black South
Africans who painstakingly walk toward freedom with great sacrifice to their
marriages, families, livelihood and physical lives comprise the movement to end
apartheid and create a brighter future for their posterity. As we appropriately honor Mr. Mandela’s
seminal role without yielding to the sentimentality and meaningless
grandiloquent descriptions, we equally celebrate each past, present and future
person who gave, sacrifices and expands this just cause.
We cannot allow contemporary and historical grandeur to
overshadow the continual struggle which Black South Africans face. The HIV/AIDS epidemic equates with
genocide. Western and multinational
pharmaceutical companies have a moral and ethical obligation to utilize their
resources and philanthropy to retard the devastation this disease reeks daily
upon South Africa. Literally hundreds of
thousands of children are orphans as both parents have died because of HIV/AIDS. It is not possible to estimate the long-term
effect upon the nation’s gross national product, familial and social
structures, governance, education systems and participation in the global
village. Many South Africans still
reside in shanty towns and other forms of entrenched poverty. They deserve the development of public and
affordable housing, public education, healthcare, job training for the
twenty-first century, civil and human rights and access to the arts parallel to
the New Deal programs of the Roosevelt Administration and the Great Society and
War on Poverty programs of the Johnson Administration. Expansion of national infrastructure
inclusive of replacing shanty towns with the equivalent of Habitat For Humanity
homes and extending public utilities and medical clinics to impoverished,
disenfranchised and economically disadvantaged Black South Africans are
concrete and practical means of celebrating Mr. Mandela’s legacy. Conceivably, his vision of a post-apartheid
South Africa necessitated the distribution of economic, governmental and other
social resources in a just and equitable manner thereby offering human dignity
and respect to each citizen. I posit
celebrations of his life justly ask the nations of the world that benefited
handsomely from investments in the apartheid regime which exploited
immeasurably Black South African workers to return and reinvest in a new and
free Republic of South Africa.
