Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela (http://www.anc.org.za/people/mandela.html)

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South African hero who brought the people out of apartheid. Born in 1918 in a part of South Africa known as the Transkei, Nelson had a chance of a good job within his tribe. He went to school, but during his education, he decided to become a lawyer. He left his home to go to a prestigious university that very few black people attended, called the Fort Hare University, but was soon kicked out due to joining a protest boycott. He went to Johannesburg to complete his education. While he was there, he lived near poverty, skipping meals to pay his rent. He studied there to become a lawyer, but it was also there that he was introduced into politics, where he joined the African National Congress. This group, known as the ANC, was created to oppose racism and apartheid, and create equal rights for people of all races.

Nelson Mandela started up a law business with a good friend of his who was also a lawyer, Oliver Tambo. They got lots of business from Africans who had been discriminated against, but it was tough to win a legal battle, as the lawyers were white and usually sided with the white people. On top of this business, Mandela was also becoming a major leader in the ANC. The group started up the Youth League, or ANCYL, which encouraged youth from across the country to join the group to make it larger and stronger. Mandela was quickly elected to secretaryship of the Youth League.

In 1949, another election went by, and the National Party, a party based on apartheid and white domination, won the election, as black people couldn't vote or have parties run in the election. This caused the ANC and the ANCYL to start taking action through boycotts, strike, civil disobedience, and non-cooperation. Mandela went across the country, organising protests to unjust laws. The protests were supported by many black people, not just ANC members. Mandela was taken to court for this, after which he stressed that non-violence was a priority. Mandela continued to fight apartheid, however, and in the years to come, he had many short spells in prison, and lots of restrictions by the government preventing him from going places or talking to certain people. He was also required to move his law business to a different place, but the place the government wanted it was a place that not many people could reach for legal help. Naturally, Mandela and Oliver Tambo refused. It was around this time that the ANC, with heavy impact from Mandela, put together the Freedom Charter, a document stating how they believed South Africa should be run. Eventually, there was a large trial accusing the ANC of treason, and the government made it an illegal group altogether. This, of course, just made meetings more difficult; the ANC was just run secretly. As it was turning out, though, the peaceful protests were just causing the government to oppress the Africans even more. A change was needed. As Mandela said in his autobiography, 'Long Walk to Freedom',
"It was when all else had failed, when all channels of peaceful protest had been barred to us, that the decision was made to embark on violent forms of political struggle...the government left us no other choice." Nelson Mandela was soon charged for organising and conducting sabotage, and he was given a life sentence in jail.

In 1964, Nelson Mandela was put onto Robben Island for his imprisonment, a top-security jail. He was put into jail with many other political prisoners who were major leaders in the ANC. Jail life was tough for all of the prisoners, but that didn't mean that they didn't continue to oppose racism. Even in prison, it was clearly obvious; whites and people of "higher" races got much more food and better jail clothes than the black people. Not surprisingly, Mandela and his comrades from the ANC put on strikes, and took many different steps to have their jail lives improved. They also found different systems of communication, like sticking plastic covered notes under the lip of the toilet, to organise large scale protests. By the end of 18 years in Robben Island prison, everything had improved drastically, from food to working conditions to recreational rights. Even though it was not as large scale as abolishing apartheid, it was still a big victory for the prisoners. However, Mandela was suddenly moved to a different prison in Cape Town. From the years between 1984-1988, Mandela was moved between a couple of prisons. There were times when he was offered an early release from prison if he accepted some of the government's polices, but he refused. He didn't negotiate either; as he put it, "Only free men can negotiate." People were asking for his release, though, and he discovered that black rights had somewhat improved over the years, and were beginning to improve more quickly. After nearly 27 years in prison, Nelson Mandela was released from jail in 1990.

Nelson Mandela was quick to get back to the ANC. It had recently been made legal again, and Nelson Mandela, along with other political prisoners who had been released from jail, provided the strength that had been missing for nearly three decades. Nelson Mandela was voted as head of the ANC, so from then on, he lead their negotiations and protests, as the violence had all but fizzled out years ago. Mandela met with the South African president of the time, F. W. de Klerk and negotiated. Huge progress was made, and in the third year of their negotiations, in 1993, Mandela and de Klerk jointly won a Nobel Peace Prize. Next year, in 1994, blacks were given the right to vote, and Nelson Mandela ran in the election for the African National Congress. In April, he became the first black president of South Africa. It was a huge leap for the people, and this is why he is my hero. He dedicated his life to the struggle against apartheid, giving up everything he had for the people of South Africa. He also had huge sacrifice in his personal life; married three times, he never really got to see his children grow up, or to spend time with his wife Winnie when he was on Robben Island. By giving up everything he had, Nelson Mandela achieved a goal that people would have though unachievable before his time. Mandela is a true hero and an inspiration to everyone.