Change cannot be Contained
A man who made change in impossible situations
A life of separation. A culture built on segregation and hate. Built with walls made of animosity and barriers of racial prejudice. The South African apartheid government was ruled by a minority white legislation with 100% rule that fell in the power elite’s favor.
They segregated everything that you could think of. Blacks and whites had different areas within the country in which they could live. They were not allowed to use the same bathrooms or eat at the same places. In basic terms, their cultures were segregated. Their values and social norms were isolated from one another preventing nearly any interaction from being possible. The word apartheid literally means “separate.” They had created a country that revolved solely around an ideology of separation and isolation.
Nelson Mandela was the one who decided that enough was enough. He sought change. A new life. And so he did just that. Mandela was always involved in politics, for helping people was his passion. He was a man of courage and honor. He put others before himself with everything he did. Not many people can share the same qualities. Could you?Would you? He continued to fight despite any obstacles put in his way. Through the course of his time fighting against this horrid government, he spent twenty-seven years in prison. That is nearly a third of his life spent in prison because of the courageous acts he performed for others. Although, many believed in what he wanted to accomplish others did not. After a series of laws were passed in favor of the anti-apartheid movement, many cops retaliated. They killed 69 people in an attempt to change the recently passed laws. The ANC was banned following this attack and South Africa enacted its first ever state of emergency. In 1962, he was arrested again at a police roadblock and was charge for leaving the country without any paperwork and attempting to get people to strike.
He was sentenced to five years in prison. While he was in prison, a secret base of the ANC’s, which is still banned, was raided. During the raid many of his followers were arrested and they all, including Mandela, were sent on trial for sabotage. This trial was soon know as the Rivonic Trial. With the death penalty nearing Mandela’s fate he said something that will never be forgotten. At The Dock, Mandela explained that nothing would stop him from achieving the change he wanted for South Africa.
“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 him to achieve. But if needs be it is an ideal for which
I am prepared to die.”
On June 11, 1964, eight people including Mandela were sentenced to life in prison. Through some means, Mandela found a way to set up a meeting with the ANC and government officials to discuss future plans for the ANC. He did this in prison. I will say it again. Nelson Mandela was creating change for his country while incarcerated. After the meeting, he was released from prison on February 11, 1990 and the ANC was unbanned on the second of February. In response to his good doings and great accomplishments, Nelson Mandela was then elected president of the ANC and also helped to stop the white minority rule South Africa’s government. Two years later in 1993 he won the Nobel peace prize. All of these events shaped Mandela into the incredible leader he was. I believe that the abyss is what makes a hero’s journey. The abyss is their greatest obstacle and also their greatest motivator. It pushes them to complete the task if they believe in so dearly. These challenges lead Mandela down the path to becoming South Africa’s first democratically elected president in 1994.
Mandela had an immense impact on his country and the world as a whole. The South African activist ended apartheid in his country and he was a global figure for human rights. He participated in many violent and nonviolent protest to change his country’s ways. He spent nearly 30 years in prison and still continued to make change even when in prison. While president he created an ethnically diverse government as opposed to South Africa’s typical all white leaders. Mandela has had countless books and movies made about his life. Just as a hero should. He made the world a much better place than how he found it and in the end that was always his goal.
“Nelson Mandela.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 16 July 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela.
History.com Staff. “Apartheid.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2010, www.history.com/topics/apartheid.
