How to Change the World
We can change the world, leaders.
We simply have to take Nelson Mandela’s approach.
Twenty-nine years ago today, May 10, 1994, Mandela completed his journey from incarcerated to inaugurated, when he was sworn in as South Africa’s first democratically elected President. Correspondingly, Mandela became his country’s first black head of state.
Mandela served as South Africa’s President for four years. And four years before his election, Mandela was released from prison. And for twenty-seven years, three months, and five days before his release, Mandela served time in four South African prisons, including eighteen years on Robben Island, a place noted for its horrid conditions.
One could argue that Mandela was jailed for leading, for his commitment to a vision for a better South Africa — a better world. And toward achieving that vision, Mandela took and facilitated action. Mandela was a thorn in the side of those with power because of his activism against apartheid, which was (literally and figuratively) a whip across the back of those without power.
The action Mandela took and facilitated was both nonviolent and armed. For his role in armed action, which included sabotaging power stations and government posts with explosives, Mandela faced the death penalty in 1964. During his trial, he spoke these words to the court:
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.
Now, being willing to die or to go to prison for a cause can certainly help one change the world, but not everyone is willing to die or to go to prison for a cause. And being president of a country can certainly help one change the world, but not everyone can be president of a country.
In short, not everyone can be Nelson Mandela.
But everyone can have Mandela’s mindset, clearly captured in his quote above and in these words from a 2008 speech: “A fundamental concern for others in our individual and community lives would go a long way in making the world the better place we so passionately dreamt of.”
Leaders, do we have a sincere, robust, fundamental concern for others in our spheres? We should…we must…if we really want to change the world.
For compassion is transformational, revolutionary.
