The Role of Nelson Mandela in The Fight Against Apartheid

Nelson Mandela is one of the most impactful and moral political leaders of modern times. He was an activist, lawyer, father, prisoner, survivor, and eventuality, president. As a vehement believer in human dignity and the equal rights of all people regardless of origins or backgrounds, he became the face of equality, and freedom. Throughout his constant fight for freedom of the all South African people from the white apartheid forces, he was constantly dominated by the corrupt structure of government. Mandela was sent to jail for twenty-seven years after uprising numerous riots against apartheid forces with the backing of the African National Congress, or ANC. His sentencing revealed the true cruelty which humans can possess. However, with the strong will power and complete support of the African people, Mandela survived his prison sentence and became the first democratically elected president of South Africa. Nelson Mandela is regarded as one of history’s most inspirational figures. No matter in what language or country his story is told, his legacy serves as a beacon of hope and healing. It is a potent reminder that the power of the human spirit can overcome seemingly impossible odds. In the face of oppression, he had the courage to stand and fight for change. His life serves as an example of how the power of passion and perseverance can change the world.

As we have learned, solidarity is the conscious decision to form a bond and show compassion to someone or something that is suffering. Pope John Paul said that it was a determinacy to commit one’s feelings and compassion to the common good. Nelson Mandela stood in solidarity with his people every day of his life. He embodied a spirit of giving and providing service to those in need while standing with the poor and marginalized members of his nation. He encouraged all to pursue justice on behalf of all persons. Nelson Mandela was to be executed for being one of the leaders of the ANC who were opposing the South African government’s segregationist policies. Instead, the government decided to prolong his suffering and he was sentenced to 27 years in prison for fighting to dismantle the country’s apartheid regime. However, this suffering did not stop him.

In his book Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship, Father Greg Boyle at Homeboy Industries stated that “the more you take things personally, the more you suffer. You observe it, hold it up to the light, release it, and move on. You can choose to let suffering be the elevator to a heightened place of humble loving.” Nelson Mandela chose not to let his suffering get the better of him. In the book The Cross and the Lynching Tree, James Cone’s theology is that though Jesus, God came to identify himself with those who had been neglected such as the poor and those who were suffering. For the blacks in the Southern United States, the vow that their suffering would one day be over was simply not sufficient. They wanted God to understand and be a part of their suffering while also liberating them from their afflicted state of being in the present world. This was in line with the suffering in which Nelson Mandela and the blacks from South Africa were going through. Nelson Mandela knew that his suffering was part of his fight for human dignity and the common good of all. The main principle of common good is that all humans, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, etc., have the god given right to live, work, and fulfill themselves while also having the responsibility and obligation to help all people. Mandela understood this principle and used it to get him through his time of suffering.

Once released Nelson Mandela and becoming South Africa’s first democratically elected president, he embodied the concept of stewardship. He believed that his presidency was a gift he was given. Dorothy Stang stated that “we must be good stewards of the gifts we have been given, we must use and treasure our gifts, and we have a moral obligation to use gifts for the common good”. Nelson Mandela did just that. He demanded respect for human life as we are all God’s creation. He governed with generosity. Regardless of all the pain, anger, and mistreatment he endured, he did not act bitter or seek revenge; Mandela instead, embraced those who were his former enemies as brothers and sisters under god.

Father Greg Boyle is a firm believer that dismantling the barriers that exclude people from one another and giving life to a new inclusion among people is something worth giving one’s life for. This is especially true when there are those who are so inclined to scapegoat and to compete and disparage and strike the high moral distance between “us” and “them.” Nelson Mandela dismantled the apartheid regime which held power in South Africa and instead of creating a new one where his people were in command and exclude those who wronged them, he chose to include all people despite their color. In Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship, Father Boyle quotes Desmond Tutu when he said “there are no evil people, just evil acts; no monsters, just monstrous acts.” Nelson Mandela was an adamant believer in the power of peace, honesty, and empathy, to mend the deepest and most unmanageable wounds. His benevolence towards those who formerly oppressed him shows that the awe of the human spirit can serve as an apparatus to help better understand the person and look beyond the act. It is important to note that Desmond Tutu is a Nobel Prize winner and an archbishop who served under Nelson Mandela as the head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which investigated allegations of human rights abuses during the apartheid era.