Nelson Mandela
In November 2009, the United Nations General Assembly declared July 18th “Nelson Mandela International Day,” a day of activism. In response to being bestowed this honor, Mr. Mandela said:
“We are humbled by the decision of the United Nations to recognize 18 July as Nelson Mandela International Day. It is our wish that the day be used not to honor an individual, but rather to remember the millions who have contributed to the struggle for freedom throughout the world. The best way to commemorate these struggles is for people everywhere to work with and within communities to make this a better world.
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Today, Nelson Mandela, head of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, turns 93. His birthday is truly something to be celebrated. As one of the world’s greatest symbols for hope, freedom and unity, his birthday — which was officially declared “Nelson Mandela International Day” in 2009 — is a reminder to do good in the world and take action to change things for the better.
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As of today, February 11 will go down in history for two very important events: the day that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stepped down from power, and the day that Nelson Mandela was freed from prison.
Mr. Mandela was freed from prison 21 years ago. He served 27 years in the Robben Island prison, located offshore of Capetown, South Africa, because of his involvement in the anti-apartheid movement. During his prison sentence, Mandela became a symbol of the struggle against racism.
While in prison, Mandela famously said, “I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society, in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunity. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and achieve. But, if need be, my Lord, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”
He was elected president of South Africa in 1994 and became the country’s first black president. His work in social justice continues to be celebrated—he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for his work in liberating South Africa from apartheid rule. In 1998, Congress awarded Mr. Mandela the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor for his fight against discrimination and oppression.
In honor of the 21st anniversary of Mr. Mandela’s release from prison, Rep. Waters commented, “President Mandela is an inspiration to millions of people in South Africa and around the world, and on this anniversary we honor him and the many South Africans who put their lives on the line by confronting racism and discrimination head-on.”
Mr. Mandela’s struggle against apartheid is still important today. Mr. Mandela never lost hope that all South Africans would be treated equally, and he never compromised with the apartheid government.
Remember the Nelson Mandela birthday card that you signed and added your photo to a while back? Well, it made it safe and sound. In a recent “60 Minutes” piece on Mr. Mandela’s legacy, we caught a glimpse of our ONE card in the background during an interview with Verne Harris, the chief archivist at the Mandela Foundation. Take a look at the screenshot below — pretty cool, right?
Please give a warm welcome to Lisa Hendrickson, our fall intern for ONE’s community partnerships team. This is her first post to the ONE Blog and we’re excited to have her on board!
For those of you who are still in college like me, I’m sure you feel like you don’t have time for any extra reading outside class sometimes. Despite this, I am going to try to squeeze in Nelson Mandela’s new autobiography, “Conversations with Myself.”
Unlike other autobiographies, “Conversations with Myself” highlights not only the political conscious of a revolutionary, but the emotional realities a revolutionary faces during their struggle to advocate for the world’s poorest people.
Nelson Mandela served as president of South Africa from 1994 to1999 and is internationally acclaimed as the leader of the anti-apartheid movement. From personal doodles during meetings with foreign dignitaries, to letters written from his oppressive cell during his 27-year jail sentence, “Conversations with Myself” is an attempt to give access to the man behind the human rights figure.
“Conversations with Myself” was released today, in 22 editions and 20 languages. Pick up your copy and be sure to let us know what you think!
Today is Nelson Mandela’s 92nd birthday. We wanted to send him a special gift this year, so we recently asked ONE members to submit their picture and help us build a birthday card just for him.
And what a response we got! Thanks to all of you, this week we were able to personally deliver a card to Mr. Mandela’s staff in South Africa that was signed by over 27,000 ONE members from all across the world.
To take a closer look at the card, click on the image below. And don’t forget to zoom in and get an up-close look at the thousands of ONE members who joined together to honor Nelson Mandela for an inspiring 92 years.
Happy birthday, Mr. Mandela!
Last week, we gave ONE members an opportunity to help us build a special birthday card for Nelson Mandela, who will be celebrating his 92nd birthday on July 18th.
Click here to sign, and then add your photo to the mosaic of ONE members that we will personally delivered to him. Nelson Mandela has devoted his life to serving his community, fighting for his country and speaking out on behalf of the poor. Wish him happy birthday and show him our thanks.
