I think as a kid growing up I never understood the words that were said or why this black guy held up in jail meant so much,
as I grew with the news and the understanding of what was going on in South Africa back then it was soon very clear that this one man could change the way a country could behave and the way its people thought just by being held prisoner,
once released it became clear that the words Nelson Mandela was not just a name but something that meant new life and peace
a truly wonderful and dignified human being
a modern day saint
Rest in Peace Nelson your purpose in life was found and fulfilled now sleep peacefully and sit alongside your people whom suffered greatly until you stood tall
That rarest of people - someone whose extraordinary life and achievements will be celebrated by the whole world. No need to mourn the merciful ending of a long life which in its last months was full of suffering - better instead to salute a wise, compassionate and courageous man whose example will be a shining legacy for all generations to come.
Well said NLA - totally agree - Mandela was a truly remarkable man and one of the greatest human beings that I have encountered (in written word and on television etc.) during my lifetime. Rest in Peace Nelson.
Fought for justice and then peace and for a time at least succeeded. I remember that quote which went something like while one man is not free none of us are free. A great man of our lifetimes in a world where there seem very few like that.
what I worry about is what will happen now that Mandela has gone. without his leadership/presences will the country start to go down hill as racism is still very much there
I am old enough to remember the apartheid era from a simplistic British point of view - no sporting teams from South Africa playing here, rebel cricket & rugby tours, bans on South African fruit & products, Gary Bailey being one of the few contemporary South Africans anyone had heard of & of course frequent & terrible news reports of massacres in places like Soweto. Can still vividly recall watching the live coverage of him leaving prison, which was incredibly nearly a quarter of a century ago. RIP to a great & inspirational man.
I am truly saddened by this news, whilst deep down inside many of the us knew this day would come, it is still a shock that the man known as 'dada' by his home nation has finally departed and gone to rest. His life was one of extraordinary courageousness and amazing forgiveness, coupled with humility and humanity. On the announcement of his death, I cried, I cried for a man I never met or knew and yet his life touched me. I feel strangely privileged to have been alive when he was, to have been on this mortal coil at the same-time as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, human beings to have walked this earth. Once in a lifetime someone comes along that changes peoples thoughts and mindset, this man did that by showing humility and forgiveness that 99% of us would not have been able to do, that to me marks him out as a very special and momentous person. I have been fortunate to work in South Africa and saw where he was imprisoned, yet he came out from 'Robin Island' and forgave those who put him there and then went on to unify a nation. Whatever your politics and thoughts I hope that the one thing you recognise about Mr Mandela is that he was a great human being who delivered a nation. He could have chosen retribution, he chose reconciliation, now that is worth celebrating in itself. Rest in peace 'Madiba' you have given your all. My hopes now rest for the future of the South African nation, you have been shown the way, by one of the greatest, grab it with both hands.
Incredible man. Changed millions of lives for the better and although his body lived a long life, his name and what he stood for will live for millennia. Surely that's the pinnacle of human existence?
“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"
It's rare for someone to really have been unique in the way that Mandela was - it is talked about lots, but Mandela is one of the few times recently where history has been made by one man. . At the time of his release, which was pushed for on both sides of the racial divide in SA, things could really have gone in any direction. There was mass unrest, lots of ongoing strikes and regular murders of black activists, both by the security forces and by their rivals. Not long after he was released, some white supremacists invaded a black homeland and were killed by the local township police. It not going a different way is in large part down to Mandela, and to de Klerk on the other side. For all the lionising of Mandela going on, he was in no way some saintly individual - he had chosen a path that involved violence after the Sharpville massacre, reasoning that he had no choice. It was other events, including increasing isolation that brought the SA govt to the table and released him, but it did take 27 years. In that time, he had learnt a lot and was able to steer a course between what his constituency wanted and what the white establishment needed. There's still loads wrong in SA, and there's still massive racism and discrimination and poverty. But it could have been so much worse. And for most of his life, he wasn't held up as the saint that he is now. I can remember a Young Conservative on the tv in the 80s saying he should be hung for terrorism. But in a way, it was because he had the background in armed struggle that he could negotiate: it's certainly to the benefit of SA and the rest of the world that he did. Nor could anyone else have done it - most other top ANC people of the time wouldn't have had either the prestige or the front. For that alone he is worthy of respect and admiration. RIP.
“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"
Comments
RIP
one of the greats.
as I grew with the news and the understanding of what was going on in South Africa back then it was soon very clear that this one man could change the way a country could behave and the way its people thought just by being held prisoner,
once released it became clear that the words Nelson Mandela was not just a name but something that meant new life and peace
a truly wonderful and dignified human being
a modern day saint
Rest in Peace Nelson your purpose in life was found and fulfilled now sleep peacefully and sit alongside your people whom suffered greatly until you stood tall
an inspiration
That rarest of people - someone whose extraordinary life and achievements will be celebrated by the whole world. No need to mourn the merciful ending of a long life which in its last months was full of suffering - better instead to salute a wise, compassionate and courageous man whose example will be a shining legacy for all generations to come.
Rest in Peace Nelson.
RIP Great Man.
Once in a lifetime someone comes along that changes peoples thoughts and mindset, this man did that by showing humility and forgiveness that 99% of us would not have been able to do, that to me marks him out as a very special and momentous person.
I have been fortunate to work in South Africa and saw where he was imprisoned, yet he came out from 'Robin Island' and forgave those who put him there and then went on to unify a nation. Whatever your politics and thoughts I hope that the one thing you recognise about Mr Mandela is that he was a great human being who delivered a nation. He could have chosen retribution, he chose reconciliation, now that is worth celebrating in itself.
Rest in peace 'Madiba' you have given your all.
My hopes now rest for the future of the South African nation, you have been shown the way, by one of the greatest, grab it with both hands.
God bless
The world needs many more like him.
Rest In Peace Madiba
For that alone he is worthy of respect and admiration. RIP.
RIP
Rest in Peace Madiba