Nelson Mandela Dies at 95

[Anonymous]

Goodbye to a world leader and visionary. One of many, many links: http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/05/world/africa/nelson-mandela/

[Anonymous]

I am so glad that God gave him a long life, so that he had the opportunity to see a free South Africa.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am so glad that God gave him a long life, so that he had the opportunity to see a free South Africa.

Given that the prime of his life was spent in prison, thanks are due for the fact that he had time to CREATE a free SA.

[Anonymous]

Amazing person. I am in a better world because of him.

[Anonymous]

As an African woman I care. Nelson Mandela's leadership, his vision, his commitment, dedication, inspiration meant everything to me. He cared, when no one did, before social media, before equality, before freedom, before liberty, there was Nelson Mandela. I remember the statement he delivered from the dock at the opening of his trial in 1964, it was like an awakening. Mandela knew there was a good chance of his being sentenced to death, yet this is how he ended his speech:

"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."Reading it now still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.It said to me: you always have to stand up for what is right, and for what you believe in, whatever the consequences. In the words of Emiliano Zapata Salazar: It's better to die upon your feet than to live upon your knees! I can't honestly say I've always managed to live up to this ideal, but each time I fail it is Mandela's words that I hear, reminding me that I have to do better. I am saddened by his death, the world lost a lot today. Mandela, we will miss you and we will always remember you

[Anonymous]

RIP, and thank you.

[Anonymous]

i remember the songs as my first exposure to what was happening in SA

[Anonymous]

and

[Anonymous]

at the end of suncity video, they cut together shots of US civil right movement(dogs attacks etc) with the pictures coming out of South African. The similarity is shocking.

[Anonymous]

Wonder if Mandela would appreciate the attempts here to bring up the most painful elements of the civil rights movement when he tried so hard to be a uniter.

[Anonymous]

Wonder if Mandela would appreciate the attempts here to bring up the most painful elements of the civil rights movement when he tried so hard to be a uniter.

You really don't know what you are talking about if you think what has been brought up here is the most painful elements of the civil rights movement in South Africa. They had a security branch that was on par with Gestapo. He might have united the country, but he did not forget what was done.

A truth commission or truth and reconciliation commission is a commission tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state actors also), in the hope of resolving conflict left over from the past. They are, under various names, occasionally set up by states emerging from periods of internal unrest, civil war, or dictatorship. South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, established by President Nelson Mandela and chaired by Desmond Tutu after apartheid, is popularly considered a model of truth commissions.
As government reports, they can provide proof against historical revisionism of state terrorism and other crimes and human rights abuses. Truth commissions are sometimes criticised for allowing crimes to go unpunished, and creating impunity for serious human rights abusers. Their roles and abilities in this respect depend on their mandates, which vary widely. Often, there is a public mandate to bring past human rights violators to justice, though in some cases (such as Argentina after 1983 and Chile after 1990), abuses of human rights have gone unpunished under truth commissions due to threats of antidemocratic coups by the powerful parties who endure in the military. In this sense, the militaries in question, having ceded control to a civilian government, insist that the "price" of ending their own military rule must be full impunity for any of their past abuses. In some cases, such as the "Full Stop" law of Argentina that prevented prosecution of officers of the military junta, this impunity has been enshrined in law under the civilian government.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_and_reconciliation_commission

[Anonymous]

You really don't know what you are talking about if you think what has been brought up here is the most painful elements of the civil rights movement in South Africa. They had a security branch that was on par with Gestapo. He might have united the country, but he did not forget what was done.

But, he forgave. Some on this board will never forgive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

You really don't know what you are talking about if you think what has been brought up here is the most painful elements of the civil rights movement in South Africa. They had a security branch that was on par with Gestapo. He might have united the country, but he did not forget what was done.

But, he forgave. Some on this board will never forgive.

So far they are only remembering. Stop putting words in their mouths.