Rest In Peace Nelson Mandela (1918-2013)

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CNN:  Nelson Mandela, anti-Apartheid icon and father of modern South Africa dies at 95.

 

 

There's a quote outside my office door, hanging under my office hours, that I chose to represent this semester as I dove into teaching Juvenile Justice and Law for the first time.  It's from Nelson Mandela, and simply states a profound truth, "There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children." The quote has always struck me as being one of those core truths that seems to be undeniable, and I have tried to keep it in mind as the semester has gone on.  It's something that those who have taken my Juveniles class have heard me say time and again.

 

Yesterday, however, the voice that spoke those words went silent forever.  Nelson Mandela, known to some as Madiba, died in his home at the age of 95.  In this age of Facebook, Twitter, message boards, texting, and so much else, I found out about his passing through an old fashioned method; there was a brief interruption of a commercial break with breaking news and promising more information after the show.  The reaction from around the world has been swift.  Mandela's home of South Africa has entered into ten days of mourning, and even last night, the U.S. Capitol's flag was lowered to half mast...for those who don't keep up with the way the U.S. does this sort of thing, it's a rather big deal.  We almost exclusively lower the flag for Americans and usually the highly influential ones at that, those which are often hailed as national heroes.  

 

So why does Mandela rate this sort of treatment?  Because he was a hero, not just to South Africa, but to the world.  Nelson Mandela is a man whose adult life is a lesson in humility.  Sentenced to prison for twenty-seven years for fighting against Apartheid and when he was finally released, he did not seek vengeance, he did not rail against those who had deprived him of his liberty, instead he spoke of the need for reconciliation between the races in South Africa.  When he became the nation's first elected black President, he did not use the position to turn around and seek vengeance on those who had wronged him, but instead he used it to draft a new Constitution, to form of a government which included members of the former regime in a show of unity, and formed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a court which operated on the principles of restorative justice instead of punitive retribution.  He spent his time introducing land reforms, combating the rampant poverty in his nation, and trying to help people get health care.  

 

Then he did the unthinkable to many.  He could have run for President again, he would have won in a landslide, but after a single term in office, Madiba would step down.  Rather than clinging to ultimate power like so many others have done, especially those who were once imprisoned by their government, he announced with a smile that he'd not run again and that instead, he would be focusing on charity work.  As his life drew to a close, he had received more than 250 honors from around the world, ranging from the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize which he shared with South Africa's then white President for helping to dismantle Apartheid to being quite possibly the only person to receive both the Soviet Order of Lenin and U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom.

 

In his lifetime, he did embrace violence reluctantly, saying it was needed for self defense against the violence of Apartheid, but all of his greatest work was done through his iconic forms of nonviolent resistance.  Faith, hope, charity, and the ability to forgive are the hallmarks of the Mandela legacy.  Most men who advocate such things die at a relatively young age:  Jesus Christ, Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, and many others.  However, this man, sometimes called "Tata", or "father" of his nation, lived to an old age of 95.  This adds to his legacy as well, for so few peacemakers can live to nearly see the century mark.  Last night, the world lost a good man, one whom I am proud to say, I have held as one of my personal heroes for many years.

 

In the end, I think Secretary General Ban Ki Moon of the United Nations put it best, last night, when he said, "Nelson Mandela was a singular figure on the global stage -- a man of quiet dignity and towering achievement, a giant for justice and a down-to-earth human inspiration."  A man who used his power for reconciliation, not revenge.  A man who sought justice, not vengeance.  A man who had power and surrendered it after one term, so that he might help the poor.  A man, who in the end, won't be remembered by history alongside so many others for their conquests by the sword, but rather as a man whose legacy is assured by the fact that he would not put those to death, who may otherwise have deserved it for their atrocities.  A man who held on to a simple underlying truth that we so often forget, that all life is sacred.

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RIP