Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Nelson Mandela: an obituary

Mandela embodies, varying slightly the simplicity of his own typically limpid and direct words, not an African messiah, but an extraordinary man who became a leader because of extraordinary circumstances. The memory and legacy of his long walk to freedom, however much remaining unfulfilled for many South Africans economically,  and perhaps, politically, endures as a life lived to the last in poignant dignity; he's someone who saw off racial and political oppression, while, like many, suffering personal and familial tragedy.  He’ll be remembered not for the legacies of his political successors and those crudely benefiting from them, but for his unassuming humanity and loyalty, for which he justifiably became the instantly recognizable, globally iconographic,  and eventually grandfatherly African. He’ll always command respect for a civic heroism of personal sacrifice for that unshakable resistance to apartheid, and for the remarkable moral strength for the generosity of spirit allowing reconciliation with racist adversaries. A man of small but hugely simple, transparent and often forthright gestures, he'll be remembered as Madiba: unsullied by corruptions of fame and power, rising above clan and ethnicity, representing his nation, the dignity of all Africans, and an uplifting example to people anywhere who have overcome, or wish to overcome oppression.

P.

On 2013-12-05 6:07 PM, Felix Kayman wrote:

The Madiba is gone. 

His passing marks the end of an age and a standard of behaviour... 

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