Amandla!

[keiliss]

20 years of freedom

Viva Nelson Mandela, viva!

(celebrating the 20th anniversary of his release from prison)

Comments

[elflover59.livejournal.com]

Great Guy.:)

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

Yes indeed, he is :)

[encairion.livejournal.com]

Just googled it, looks like an awesome movie! I'll have to check it out! He was such an extraordinary man. To keep his spirit and passion for freedom even after 18 years on Robben Island, not to mention the other prisons!

But even more, I admire him for the work he did in the peaceful disillusionment of Apartheid! How a country can go from tragedies like the Soweto uprising to the unity of South Africa appears to have today, is amazing.

Though, I don't know enough about South African 21st politics. I know HIV/AIDS is huge, and poverty is still crippling, and corruption is rampant in government... Now I want to go do some more googling!

Thanks-for the post :D

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

Ah, I can do a three page response, or keep it short, LOL.

He is a remarkable man. If he felt bitterness about losing 27 years of his life, he's never let it show, he reached out to everyone, and he never lost sight of how vital it was to reach a negotiated settlement, not slide into full-scale civil war... and fortunately there were leaders on all sides who understood how important it was to make the transition peacefully.

And yes, HIV/AIDS is a vast problem, badly mismanaged by Mandela's successor, though the new president is getting things back on track, poverty -- it will take generations to undo some of the evil things apartheid did, corruption exists, though not as bad as it's painted (fortunately), crime is a problem that goes hand in hand with poverty and unemployment.. On the plus side, we don't fool ourselves about the problems and we keep talking and trying and we're stupidly optimistic really *g*.

Okay, I'm stopping, LOL. Going to bed. Sorry, just started and didn't find the right place to stop.

Amandla means 'power', it was the resistance salute, seemed an appropriate subject line :) Have you seen Invictus? Morgan Freeman plays a very believable Mandela, and it takes a look at one of the ways he tried to encourage unity.

Really going now :P

[encairion.livejournal.com]

Yes, he was one of those incredible people that don't come around everyday.

I am glad to hear things aren't quite as bad in South Africa as they have it on the news! I do remember reading that SA has one of the highest percentage of HIV/AIDS rate in Africa- is that true?

"we don't fool ourselves about the problems and we keep talking and trying and we're stupidly optimistic really *g*."

Well that's what it's going to take! Decades of oppression aren't going away in a few years :(

"Amandla means 'power', it was the resistance salute, seemed an appropriate subject line :)"

Oh! I should have remembered that :P I remember watching a movie by that name about music and the role it played in the resistance movement against Apartheid... or something like that. It was a few years ago for a class.

No, I haven't seen Invictus, I'll have to take a look :D

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

I knew about the movie, though I never got to see it *g* - a celebration, they called it, I think.

We have the highest rate of HIV transmission in Africa, yes, and yet we have the best health service, supposedly. Doesn't make sense till you realise the previous president, Mbeki, was an AIDS denialist - he appointed a Health Minister who regarded anti retrovirals as a form of poison and pushed the benefits of a good diet rich in foods like beetroot, garlic and lemon......

We have a lot of catching up to do now she's gone, and there's a comprehensive treatment system at last.

[enismirdal.livejournal.com]

Yay! A truly great man. He has brought South Africa so, so far... The strength and determination that kept him going for so long is absolutely breathtaking.

(BBC made a feature-length drama focusing on Winnie Mandela and her relationship with Nelson...don't know if you heard about it. It was very emotive and really interesting.)

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

Even now that he's over 90 and in a wheelchair, he's still such a symbol of strength and dignity.

Heard something about the tv drama, but not much detail. For all her faults, for all the things she got sucked into, Ma Winnie will always be my hero. When he was sent to Robben Island, she was this young, gorgeous woman with young kids... they wouldn't allow her to get a job, she was harassed, banned, arrested, imprisoned regularly, and it didn't matter what they did to her, she came back up shouting. For a lot of years, she and Tutu were the only two they didn't quite dare harm, and she really was a torch in the darkness...

See, shouldn't have mentioned her, I get carried away :D

[silver-trails.livejournal.com]

Viva!

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

*smiles*

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

Wow! I cannot believe it has been 20 years. (Showing my age again.) Thanks for the reminder.

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

Heh. Radio and tv were reminiscing about events on the day he was released, and I could remember it all like it was, oh, couple of months back. All the anecdotes, waiting for hours to finally see him... felt kind of Aged, yes *g*.

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

It was incredible for me (a lot older than you). I still tear up thinking about him being free. It had been like a constant in my entire conscious life--the injustice that he was in prison.

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

They moved the opening of parliament back a week this year to have it on the anniversary. He was there, in the public gallery, in a wheelchair, looking very old. Well, he's over 90, so he would. President Zuma quoted him a couple of times in his state of the nation speech. The final time was the quote from the end of his statement during his treason trial. I sat and cried, and I have heard this how many times? It is - who he is.

"During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."

And they locked him away for 27 years, and he came out and worked for peace.

[chaotic-binky.livejournal.com]

No one knows the value of freedom until they do not have it anymore.

Nelson Mandela made the world consider what freedom actually means.

Hugs Binky xxx

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

I think one of his biggest lessons for the world is what you do with freedom once it's yours, about not abusing it.

*hugs*

[erviniae.livejournal.com]

I can't believe it has been that long already! Seems like yesterday.

Thanks for reminding us of him and all he stood for.
*hugs*

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

It doesn't seem like 20 years at all, no. Though he was at the opening of Parliament and - oh, you can see his age now.

*hugs*

[minuial_nuwing]

**hugs and cheers**

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

[aglarien1.livejournal.com]

To do what he did and not allow a war to start was just remarkable. Extraordinary man.

*hugs*

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

He never let his ego get in the way, I think that was it. And he was and is very self-disciplined, everyone who knows him remarks on that.

[phyncke.livejournal.com]

Great. What a great post. Thanks for reminding us of this.

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

We've done quite a bit with the 20 year celebration, had an event outside the prison, lots of people sharing their Madiba memories... he's a very special man.

[phyncke.livejournal.com]

He sure is. I spent most of my youth following his life and still.

I love this song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCPw7P7rjSI

Free Nelson Mandela by the Specials. I just love it.

What a man. :)