Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandelawikimedia commonsNelson Mandela was born in 1918 and he died in 2013. In January 1990, it was his 27th year as a political prisoner in South Africa. In April he was freed, and four years later (1994), he was elected president of the country. He was president from 1994 to 1999. Mandela was a leader for South Africa’s non-white majority. In 1952 he and his friend opened the first black-owned law firm in South Africa. In 1944, Mandela joined a black-liberation organization (African National Congress, ANC). In 1956 he was arrested because his first sentence was for helping lead the ANC, and a lot of people violated the racism laws. However, in 1958, police shot more than 200 protesters and Mandela began to do acts of sabotage. He helped found a military and became a fugitive. In 1962 he was caught and he went to prison for five years. He was in prison for life from 1964 until 1982, when he was transferred to the maximum-security prison. Finally, Nelson Mandela was set free on February 11, 1990. When mandela was freed, he continued working to end racism.