R.I.P Mandela

I found out about Mandela's death via social media. Though deep down I knew the passing of Nelson Mandela would occur during my lifetime it is something that I did not want to accept. Even when Mandela took a turn for the worse in hospital a few months back I kept praying that he wouldn't die. Unfortunately the day I was dreading came on 5 December 2013.

I remember first learning about Mandela in my latter years of Primary school from my teacher who was a South African. She told us about Mandela's imprisonment and played us a song and the lyrics were "free Nelson Mandela, free Nelson Mandela" (you can youtube it "The Specials - Nelson Mandela"). That was a song I never forgot

Mandela was born on 18 July 1918 in Mvezo a small village in South Africa. His birth name was Rolihlahla Mandela. His first name in Xhosa means "pulling the branch of a tree" and "trouble maker". He was given the name Nelson by his school teacher on his first day of school because in those days it was common for African children to be given Christian and English names.

I was going to spend the majority of this blog post summarising his life but that is something you can easily read on Wikipedia. Instead I am now going to focus on what can be learned from Mandela's life.

The thing about Mandela's life which strikes me the most was his imprisonment for 27 years. Pause. TWENTY SEVEN years!!! I haven't even lived for 27 years, I still have a few years to go until I reach that age. During his imprisonment Mandela was not allowed to attend the funerals of his mother and son. He was only allowed visitors once every 6 months and he missed out on his children growing up. He spent 18 of those years on Robben Island. He endured hard labor which included breaking rocks which affected his lungs (and I believe that was a contribution towards his death). This is a lot for any human being to go through.

When he was finally set free in 1990 he FORGAVE those who did this inhumane act against him. His main focus was reconciliation not revenge. If I went through what Mandela did I would want revenge on those who inflicted this on me. Taking 27 years of my life that I can't get back somebody will have to pay. Luckily Mandela didn't have my kind of mindset. It takes a really strong person to be able to forgive those who committed such an inhumane act against them. From this we can learn the importance of forgiveness, the Bible says "Forgive those who persecute you" as hard as it is, it's something we must try, that person who disrespected you, that person who hurt you, we have to learn to let go and forgive. If more people in the world forgave the world would be a much more peaceful place because far too many people die as a result of revenge and retaliation.

From Mandela I have also learned that it is important to stand up for what is right and what you believe in. He was a courageous man who was prepared to die for what is right.

During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. 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. - Mandela

How many of us are willing to die for what is right? not many of us including myself. But I do believe sometimes we do need to speak up against whats wrong whether its at work, school, home etc. There are times we may witness something which we know is wrong but do not want to get involved so we keep our mouths shut. Staying quiet will not bring change, we need to be more courageous. Standing up for what is right will not make everybody happy.  Mandela was labelled a terrorist because he was fighting against what was wrong in society. Sometimes we focus so much on what people will think about us but we shouldn't. As long as you are doing the right thing that's what matters.

Mandela achieved a tremendous amount in his life. He fought against apartheid, he fought against inequality and he was a great leader. Because of the contributions he made in his life the whole world is mourning his death. To have leaders from all over the world to attend his memorial, to have millions of people on social media post his pictures and share his quotes shows how great of a person he was. I hope most of the world leaders can learn from the example set by Mandela. Starting as boy from a small African village to becoming one of the greatest men to ever walk this earth. This shows that you do not have to come from wealth & privilege in order to be great. What you are today does not define what you will be tomorrow.

I am currently reading Mandela's Autobiography "Long Walk to Freedom" and I hope to finish reading it before the film based on the book is released. Here is the trailer

I'm not African!

Africa aka the Motherland, where life began. However the depiction of Africa and its people are usually negative. When some people think of Africa they think of this:

Africa seems to be synonymous with poverty and hunger. Yes there are Africans that live in poverty but it doesn't mean that the WHOLE of Africa is like that. The same way not everybody in Europe is rich.  The Western media has been consistent in portraying ONLY the negative aspects of Africa which influences people's perception of the continent. Because of this negative perception some people do not want to be associated with Africa. I have come across people of African descent who deny their African roots or take it as an insult when they are called African. There are black people who will state how they are mixed with Latino, Asian or White, which is not an issue but then say it like it is a badge of honor as if being mixed is better than being just "black". Even when it comes to beauty some of our standards are distorted. With the European standard of beauty certain African features are viewed as ugly such as having dark skin, kinky hair, flat nose and thick lips.This reminds me of Malcom X's speech "Who taught you to hate yourself" This ideology has also affected some black communities where being a lighter skinned black person with more European like features seems to be viewed as more attractive. Unfortunately the issue of Colorism (the whole light skin v dark skin issue which has its roots in slavery and colonization) is still prominent.

Can we blame people for having this mentality when it is something they have been fed with for years by society? especially by institutions such as slavery, colonization, religion and the education system

During the trans-atlantic slave trade Christianity was distorted and used as a tool to justify the enslavement of black people. The story was called "The curse of Ham". This story talks about when Noah was drunk and his son Ham saw him naked. Ham went and then told his brothers who then covered Noah's nakedness. Because Ham didn't cover his fathers nakedness  Noah cursed Ham's son Canaan  (so far this is all in Genesis 9, now here is when the distortion comes in) As a result of this curse Hams descendants had blackened skin. Therefore having black skin was seen as a curse.

Even in the education system when we are taught about black history we are mostly told that Africans were slaves, but we are never taught about African Kings and Queens. They never tell you that Africa had some of the most powerful empires in the world such as the Ghana Empire and Mali Empire. They never tell you that the worlds very first university was in Africa, The University of Timbuktu in Mali which taught sciences, maths, geography and medicine in the 12th century.They never tell you that some of the greatest inventions such as the clock, traffic light, mobile phone, typewriter etc were created by people of African descent.

Africa is a land rich in culture, music, dance, art and history. Never feel ashamed whether you come straight from Africa, or you are a descendant of enslaved Africans, or you're part of the African diaspora. You should never allow yourself to feel ashamed or inferior because of your African heritage. The language you speak, the food you eat, the way you look should not make you feel less than your European counterparts. The world would not be what it is today without the contribution of Africans.

I am pro black and believe that in God's eyes all humans all equal, our differences make us unique and beautiful. I believe that the years of racism, degradation, oppression and  brainwashing that countless black people have endured has caused an inferiority complex within the minds of many black people. I want to uplift those who are a victim to this and do not know and understand the true beauty of their African roots. As Marcus Garvey said "A people without knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots". I have been doing research into African history and will be doing a blog post series on it. Here are a couple of pictures of the Africa they never show you

Nairobi

Ghana