A tribute to Nelson Mandela by the Elders and
“Thirty years ago, a 71-year-old Nelson Mandela walked out of the then-Victor Verster prison, an hour’s drive away from Cape Town. He had entered prison as a young fighter and emerged as an elder statesman, more open to negotiation, but still willing to go toe to toe when needed.
Clutching his hand was Mama Winnie Mandela, who, with countless others, kept the spotlight on him during those decades in prison. Their hands, raised proudly in the air, signified a victory. But when he stepped out, a battle won, there was still a war to be won. Ostensibly a free man, Madiba was not truly free. He remained under the governance of a racist terror machine masquerading as a legitimate government.
It was through intense negotiation and, both supported and led by those who put everything on the line, that a form of democracy was made possible. There were real gains in freedom through this democracy. That democracy, our democracy, was not perfect and, like all democracies, will remain imperfect. But it is the possibility and the potential of real democracy that we should hold on to. That we should fight for. The possibility of the unimaginable. ”
Read more here. More information can be found here as well.
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