Nelson Mandela, Activist, Prisoner, President

Very few great leaders have made as big an impact on a nation and the world as Nelson Mandela. His name belongs among those of such notables as Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. — both patriots who fought for the human right to live without domination and who led revolutions in their nations.

Who could tell that a revolutionary was inside a boy herding animals in the early 1900s countryside of South Africa? Mandela was groomed to be a village leader, but he was not born into a rural paradise. His country was in turmoil, filled with violence, racism, and the impoverishment of an entire people. The color of his skin made him a second-class citizen with very few rights or opportunities.

Black children, if they went to school at all, attended schools in disrepair with few teachers and materials. White children attended good schools that were well equipped with supplies, teachers, and books. Whites went to school for free until they were 15 years old, but black children had to pay for their education. Few black people made it past sixth grade. Black people, if they could find work at all, traveled great distances to poorly paying jobs, sometimes leaving their families for months at a time. They worked in situations that were just a slight improvement over outright slavery. Black South Africans could not vote. White people owned more than 85 percent of the land even though they were a small minority, while black South Africans were forced to live in "reserves," where land was poor, or in ghettos, where jobs were scarce and families were crowded together in tiny houses. As a young man, Mandela watched day after day as his people suffered.

He knew he had to get actively involved to end apartheid. He joined the African National Congress (ANC), originally founded in 1912 to defend the rights of black people by using nonviolent methods. Then, in 1944, Mandela and other young activists — Anton Lembede, Walter Sisulu, and Oliver R. Tambo — formed the African National Congress Youth League to apply more aggressive tactics to ending apartheid.

Although Mandela's activism landed him in jail several times, he and many others throughout the world continued to work hard to end discrimination in South Africa. In 1964, charged with plotting to overthrow the government, he was sentenced to life in prison. Also sentenced were many of Mandela's key colleagues, both black and white, including Sisulu, Ahmed Kathrada, Govan Mbeki, and Dennis Goldberg.

Imprisonment, however, did not break Mandela's will or bury his cause. The struggle continued through the efforts of thousands and thousands of activists, including leaders such as Winnie Mandela, Steve Biko, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Thousands of South Africans defied apartheid and were sent to prison. Their courage and the violence of the South African government brought ever-widening support in South Africa and throughout the world to end apartheid. Locked within the prison walls and severely restricted in what he could do, Mandela carried on his mission, educating his fellow prisoners and providing inspiration so that prison life would not kill the zeal for their struggle.

After 27 years in jail, Nelson Mandela was set free in 1990. Although the government had hoped to break him, his drive was too strong. Realizing the fight would continue, the current leaders of the country saw that they would have to share power. As ANC president, Mandela served as negotiator between black people and the apartheid government. He helped the two groups reconcile their differences. In 1993, he won the Nobel Peace Prize (with F.W. de Klerk), accepting it on behalf of all South Africans who had suffered and endured so much to bring equality to all the people of their nation.

Nelson Mandela was elected to lead the country as its first black president in 1994. First and foremost, he worked to unite the long-divided country, which was rife with bitter resentments and hatred. His motto was, "If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner."

After stepping down at the end of his term as president at age 77, Mandela began a new career as an advocate for health education, to fight the AIDS epidemic in South Africa, and, as always, to protect and care for those greatest in need, especially children. As Mandela says, "Children are a treasure, the wealth of any country. They are the future leaders of society and the entire nation … They must be given education. Their health must be looked after. And, above all, they must be given love."

A negotiator is a person who helps two sides come to terms or agreement on an issue.

PHOTO (COLOR): This painting is just one of many gifts Nelson Mandela has received throughout the years.

PHOTO (COLOR): Nelson Mandela is recognized as a world leader for human rights.

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By Janet Buckwalter

Janet Buckwalter's first book, How Many Cheeseburgers Does It Take to Win the Tour de France?, was used to raise money for cancer research.