Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela Inagurationmedium.comImagine being born with a doomed life, being guaranteed to grow up in absolute division, in a country where you have no rights, no freedom, and no money. Imagine just for a moment your life in South Africa, a place where, as someone with dark skin, you have nothing. That was the life for millions of people in South Africa, due to Apartheid, until Nelson Mandela came around. Nelson Mandela was born into tribal south Africa in 1918, but soon renounced his tribal lifestyle and went to law school. In 1942 Nelson Mandela graduated from the university of south Africa for law and later joined the ANC (African National Congress). Apartheid was a better system of discrimination for decades in South Africa the empathetic selfless.  To be a hero one must be empathetic, and courageous. Nelson Mandela fought courageously and spent his life dismantling his countries tyranny and flawed form of government establish free democracy for all.

Nelson MandelaWordPress.comNelson Mandela was extremely courageous in the battle for his people. He was willing to give everything for them. Nelson Mandela, throughout his battle for his people proved that he was willing to give everything for them. Mandela helped bring an end to Apartheid, the brutal system of discrimination. And was quoted saying “During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against whites domination, and I fought against black domination.” (de Zayas) This proves that Nelson Mandela was bravely willing to give up his life to defend and acquire rights for the people of South Africa. To be a hero someone must be extremely courageous, and this courage generally comes at a high cost. Nelson Mandela was willing to give anything for his people and he spent 27 years in prison due to his activism. Nelson Mandela was placed in prison in the year 1942. This was no short sentence, Mandela was sentenced to life in prison for various charges. While Mandela was in prison, he was certainly not idle. He continued to fight for his people‘s freedom behind bars. He began to write his stunning autobiography A Long Walk to Freedom while in prison. It depicts his story and his battle for his country first hand. Nelson Mandela was willing to give it all for his country, and spent 27 long years in prison for them. This is the courage necessary for anyone to be a hero.

Mandela Released from Jailrt.comMandela was extremely empathetic to all people, and not just victims of apartheid.  This all encompassing need for freedom and equality helped Mandela nonviolently perform strikes, marches, and other peaceful forms of protest. Nelson Mandela once said, “I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together”. The emphasis that Mandela placed on all when he said “all persons” is extremely valuable and important. This emphasizes his feelings and basis for his ideas that all men were created equal, and his passion for a fair democracy proves this. Years after apartheid was abolished, under his democratic system, Mandela ran for president of South Africa. He ran for president of South Africa in the year 1994 and eviscerated the competition by an incredible margin, 60% to him, and 20% and 10% to his respective competition. The moment Nelson Mandela began his campaign for presidency of South Africa he had already won. There was a reason he won so easily he was already extremely famous for abolishing apartheid and his empathy was well known internationally. He was the obvious choice. Empathy is one of the most important traits the leader can have, because it means that they truly care for their people, and support them in any way they can.

Mandela - Age 72 - Newly ReleasedYousuf KarshSouth Africa had brutal system and of discrimination called Apartheid, which Nelson Mandela spent his life destroying and in doing so peacefully brought equality to his country. Nelson Mandela was willing to courageously sacrifice his life for his people. He had to run away from the law, spend time in prison, and eventually became president, representing freedom for all people. In our current world we have witness to a lot of injustice. The injustice that comes in the form of racism, bigotry, and hate crimes, this hate is caused by people‘s ignorance and Nelson Mandela fought bravely to educate people and steer them away from ignorance. Nelson Mandela also battled to educate, but not through violence but with peaceful protests and nonviolence. He is a hero because he did things not with the fist of tyranny but with welcoming arms and everyone has something to learn from him.

Works Cited

History.com Staff. “Nelson Mandela.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2009,

www.history.com/topics/nelson-mandela.

de Zayas, Alfred. "Nelson Mandela." Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity, edited by Dinah L. Shelton, Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. Biography In Context, https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K3434600222/BIC?u=powa9245&sid=BIC&xid=04300ea7

"Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela." History Behind the Headlines: The Origins of Conflicts Worldwide, edited by Sonia G. Benson, et al., vol. 2, Gale, 2001. Biography In Context, https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ2439000031/BIC?u=powa9245&sid=BIC&xid=21711f60.

"Nelson Mandela." Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2014. Biography In Context, https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/H1000063528/BIC?u=powa9245&sid=BIC&xid=57b696ff.

Nelson Mandela." Contemporary Black Biography, vol. 77, Gale, 2010. Biography In Context, https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1606004574/BIC?u=powa9245&sid=BIC&xid=ae801b3.