Good Head & a Good Heart: A Tribute to Nelson Mandela.

A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very sp

ecial. 

-Nelson Mandela

I tremble as I write this, hoping to capture even a fraction of the man Nelson Mandela was. My hope is that this blog can eloquently paint a vivid picture of the man who inspired everything I am and everything I believe. I heard of his passing mid-afternoon, and after taking an entire evening and most of a night to process it, feel I'm ready to give adequate tribute to the most admirable man to ever walk this planet. He was well into his lifetime and experiencing a downturn in his health, so it was no secret he was nearing his final days, but I can't imagine I'd ever be truly prepared for this. Nelson Mandela is my hero. He is a true visionary and dynamic leader. Instead of a boring synopsis in which I don't do his life justice. 

Nelson Mandela was the beacon of hope for humanity. With a wealth of knowledge and an arsenal of love, he dedicated his life to eradicating poverty. He is responsible for toppling institutionalized racism and perpetuating racial reconciliation in South Africa. He built bridges while confronting societies evils head on. He embodies so much courage, resilience, strength, and the most astonishing quality of all given his circumstances, love. 

His self sacrifice for the greater good united an entire nation. His selflessness is unrivaled and throughout all his accolades he remained humble. He has remained a constant and true inspiration. He is my kindred spirit.

 I first became truly and completely inspired by Nelson Mandela when I watched an interview where he condemned GWB for undermining the United Nations and acting without authority to invade Iraq. Not only did he call George Bush on his shit, but he also pointed out the fact that the United States government lacks respect for People of Color in positions of power. His rhetoric sliced through Westernized hygemony and imperialism leaving an imprint on my impressionable young mind.

 Watch Nelson Mandela Condemn Iraq War

 This speech resonated so much with me. At the time, I was actively trying to educate any and everyone I could about the genocide happening in Darfur, Sudan. I lie awake at night bothered that children were being forced into slavery and the Ganjaweed were forcing families to commit sexual violence against each other at gunpoint. I was haunted that I lived in the most powerful country in the world and it just so happened to be the most willfully ignorant. I was eleven when I confessed to my Grandma that the United States government lacks an element of humanity and that having the biggest militia in the world should not equate us with being the best country because we were primitive when it came to protecting human rights. Watching this speech confirmed all of my assertions and reinforced my dissenting opinion on the "War on Terror."
It DISGUSTS me that the United States had Nelson Mandela listed as a terrorist up until 2008, and that Ronald Reagan tried to veto a bill that supported his release from years of being unlawfully confined. 

*The following information was obtained from thinkprogress.org:


1. Mandela blasted the Iraq War and American imperialism. Mandela called Bush “a president who has no foresight, who cannot think properly,” and accused him of “wanting to plunge the world into a holocaust” by going to war in Iraq. “All that (Mr. Bush) wants is Iraqi oil,” he said. Mandela even speculated that then-Secretary-General Kofi Annan was being undermined in the process because he was black. “They never did that when secretary-generals were white,” he said. He saw the Iraq War as a greater problem of American imperialism around the world. “If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America. They don’t care,” he said.
2. Mandela called freedom from poverty a “fundamental human right.” Mandela considered poverty one of the greatest evils in the world, and spoke out against inequality everywhere. “Massive poverty and obscene inequality are such terrible scourges of our times — times in which the world boasts breathtaking advances in science, technology, industry and wealth accumulation — that they have to rank alongside slavery and apartheid as social evils,” he said. He considered ending poverty a basic human duty: “Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life,” he said. “While poverty persists, there is no true freedom.”
3. Mandela criticized the “War on Terror” and the labeling of individuals as terrorists, even Osama Bin Laden, without due process. On the U.S. terrorist watch list until 2008 himself, Mandela was an outspoken critic of President George W. Bush’s war on terror. He warned against rushing to label terrorists without due process. While calling for Osama bin Laden to be brought to justice, Mandela said, “The labeling of Osama bin Laden as the terrorist responsible for those acts before he had been tried and convicted could also be seen as undermining some of the basic tenets of the rule of law.”
4. Mandela called out racism in America. On a trip to New York City in 1990, Mandela made a point of visiting Harlem and praising African Americans’ struggles against “the injustices of racist discrimination and economic equality.” He reminded a larger crowd at Yankee Stadium that racism was not exclusively a South African phenomenon. “As we enter the last decade of the 20th century, it is intolerable, unacceptable, that the cancer of racism is still eating away at the fabric of societies in different parts of our planet,” he said. “All of us, black and white, should spare no effort in our struggle against all forms and manifestations of racism, wherever and whenever it rears its ugly head.”
5. Mandela embraced some of America’s biggest political enemies. Mandela incited shock and anger in many American communities for refusing to denounce Cuban dictator Fidel Castro or Libyan Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, who had lent their support to Mandela against South African apartheid. “One of the mistakes the Western world makes is to think that their enemies should be our enemies,” he explained to an American TV audience. “We have our own struggle.” He added that those leaders “are placing resources at our disposal to win the struggle.” He also called the controversial Palestinian Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat “a comrade in arms.”
6. Mandela was a die-hard supporter of labor unions. Mandela visited the Detroit auto workers union when touring the U.S., immediately claiming kinship with them. “Sisters and brothers, friends and comrades, the man who is speaking is not a stranger here,” he said. “The man who is speaking is a member of the UAW. I am your flesh and blood.”

“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."

If he can spend 27 years incarcerated in the name of racial justice, I can surely dedicate my existence to helping ensure his work and legacy were not achieved in vain. I hope one day this entire world reflects this remarkable man's ideology and mirrors the reconciliation that occurred in South Africa.

 

RIP NELSON MANDELA YOUR LEGACY WILL LIVE ON