Nelson Mandela

by The Black History Month Project

Nelson Mandela

I decided to cover Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu in the same week and having covered Archbishop Tutu yesterday it seems only fitting to cover Mandela today. I have been thinking about Mandela a lot as his name features in one of he Soca songs on my iPod – Bally’s Shaka Shaka — “White Canadian Youths Protest, Free Mandela on the Chest”.

There are interesting parallels between Tutu and Mandela, not only are both former advocates for Anti-Aparthied in South Africa but they have both won Nobel Peace Prizes for their efforts. Also, interestingly, both are survivors of Prostate Cancer.

Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in Jail from 1962 until his release in February of 1990. In 1994 he was elected President of South Africa in the first of that Country’s multi-racial democratic elections. Throughout his time as president he worked to make reconciliation a reality.