When I learned of Nelson Mandela's passing yesterday I admittedly had a moment of sadness. But it quickly turned to celebration when I remembered this iconic and inspirational man.
I don't want to get into too much history (you can read a ton of stuff about Mandela and apartheid elsewhere) but in short Nelson Mandela was a lawyer who became a political prisoner in 1962. He was accused of conspiracy to overthrow the government. He served 27 years in prison (mostly on Robben Island off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa).
Upon his release in 1990, Mandela began negotiations with the president to end apartheid and establish multiracial elections for the country. He then became South Africa's first black president. He restructured the government to embrace unity and as they say the rest is history.
As you may know, last year I spent some time in South Africa. I had a chance to visit Robben Island and wanted to share a few snap shots with you.
Robben Island Cemetery.
This is the limestone quarry where the prisoners would spend all day mining for lime to be used to pave the roads on the island.
This cave at the quarry was excavated by the inmates and served as a bathroom, break room, and lunch area, all in one.
This is a rock pile that Nelson Mandela started at a prisoner reunion on the island in 1995. They all, one by one, put a rock into the pile at the Lime Quarry.
This was our tour guide. One of the coolest parts of the tour was discovering that he was an ex-prisoner himself.
The entrance to one of the prison cell blocks.
Here he displayed an enlarged version of the prisoner's ID cards.
A stroll across a courtyard brought us to where Mandela was held captive.
Here is the prison yard outside the cell black where prisoners like Mandela were allowed to garden.
Nelson Mandela's cell. 8 feet by 7 feet with a straw mattress and a blanket. The toilet was a covered bucket.
After Mandela's release from prison in 1990 he appeared on this balcony at the Cape Town City Hall. This is where he gave a speech declaring his commitment to peace and reconciliation with the white minority. Mandela said that he would continue as "a purely defensive action against the violence of apartheid." He hoped that the government would agree to negotiations so that "there may no longer be the need for the armed struggle" and insisted that his main focus was to bring peace to the black majority and give them the right to vote in elections.
If you find yourself in Cape Town, South Africa make it a point to visit Robben Island. It is certainly a humbling yet inspiring experience. The attributes that come up for me regarding Mandela are, patience, courage, mindfulness, empowering, peaceful, respect. I am reminded of how successful we can be when we embody those things. And as I said at the beginning, although we may feel a sense of loss over his death, this is truly a time to celebrate the life of Nelson Mandela.
Thanks for stopping by!
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