President Obama released a greeting today to Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela on the occasion of the great man’s 92nd birthday. (See photos of Mandela celebrating with his family on the Nelson Mandela Foundation site.)On behalf of the United States, I wish Nelson Mandela a very happy 92nd birthday. We are grateful to continue to be blessed with his extraordinary vision, leadership, and spirit. And we strive to build upon his example of tolerance, compassion and reconciliation. I also join the American people, the South African people, the United Nations, and the world in celebrating the first annual Nelson Mandela International Day. I encourage us all to heed the call to engage in some form of service to others, in honor of the 67 years of sacrifice and service Madiba gave to us. We strive to follow his example of what it means to truly give back to our communities, our nations, and our world.
The example we all strive to follow is his political activism opposing South African apartheid, leading to his arrest and conviction in 1962, with a sentence of life in prison. Upon his release on Feb. 11 1990, Mandela remarkably forgave his captors and lead his country through an unbelievable process of reconciliation and the first-ever multi-racial democratic process, which also elected him president from 1994-1999.
Mandela included sexual orientation in his Inaugural speech in Cape Town on May 9, 1994, a plank later written into the South African constitution:
“In 1980s the African National Congress was still setting the pace, being the first major political formation in South Africa to commit itself firmly to a Bill of Rights, which we published in November 1990. These milestones give concrete expression to what South Africa can become. They speak of a constitutional, democratic, political order in which, regardless of colour, gender, religion, political opinion or sexual orientation, the law will provide for the equal protection of all citizens. They project a democracy in which the government, whomever that government may be, will be bound by a higher set of rules, embodied in a constitution, and will not be able govern the country as it pleases.”
Today “apartheid” has been relegated to the history books. But many of us remember that cruel, total Nazi-like control the white Afrikaaners held over blacks and other people of color. To understand that context, please read this BBC report or take some time and watch this film about the June 16, 1976 youth-led riots in Soweto. I worked at CBS News at the time and I remember filmed horror that never made it to the evening news. I also remember white police officers unapologetically claiming they had “no choice” but to fire into the fleeing schoolchildren. By the end of the riots Reuters reported more than 500 killed (many youth shot and trampled), with thousands wounded. It took global outrage and sanctions to eventually stop apartheid and yield heroes such as Nelson Mandela.
Here is a BBC filmed report about Mandela’s release from prison:
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