Nelson Mandela: Courage in the face of adversity

Robyn Miller, Arts & Education Writer

A few short weeks ago, Nelson Mandela was erroneously declared dead.

Lying in a hospital bed in Pretoria for an inordinately longer time than his previous visits had kept him, when news of the anti-apartheid South African leader's deteriorating health surfaced, it quickly set off panic buttons among the hordes clamouring outside his hospital as well as the rest of the world.

A rush on social-media sites by so-called Mandela sympathisers registering their solidarity with his family and the world, took on a life of its own. In Australia, politician Gary Gray prematurely sent condolences from Parliament House to Mandela's family, bemoaning the tremendous loss of the great man to the nation.

From thereon, he gained his own army of followers in other places.

But last Thursday, July 18, the fight and steely resilience of Madiba, as he is lovingly called by the people of his Xhosa clan, resounded throughout South Africa and the world as the iconic figure celebrated, albeit from a hospital bed, his 95th birthday.

Since then, celebrations of Nelson Mandela International Day, observed on his birthday, have gained momentum, taking on greater significance this year amid ominous fears Mandela may not be around much longer.

BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE

In his native South Africa, children in schools jumped and sang Happy Birthday To You and scribbled messages for the man they have come to know as the 'father of the nation', wishing him a speedy recovery.

The United Nations (UN) which, in 1993, bestowed the Nobel Peace Prize on Mandela, some five years ago declared July 18 Nelson Mandela International Day. To mark this year's celebrations, the UN made a global call for persons to render an act of kindness for 67 minutes, especially to children, in recognition of Mandela's 67 years of struggles for equality, humanity and to keep the memory of his charitable organisations alive.

Back here in the media, a similar message was being sent to Jamaicans, many of whom have long held solidarity with South Africa since its apartheid heyday. Jamaica's Michael Manley himself had become a voice among Caribbean people against the F.W. de Klerk regime and apartheid. Jamaica became one of the early countries to ban trade between the two.

The Nelson Mandela Park in Half-Way Tree and Mandela Highway mark the close ties both countries have shared over the years.

But long before the local media buzz, celebrations for the life of Mandela had been jump-started in June through University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, professor and historian Verene Shepherd on her one-woman radio history show.

GET-WELL WISHES

On the 'Talking History' programme, Professor Shepherd brought together children of Tivoli Gardens, a vibrant set of drummers from Glenmuir High School, cultural entertainers, third secretary (political) of the South African High Commission Siphokazi Hermans, university colleagues, and well-wishers to celebrate the work of the modern-day hero.

While the foci was the commemoration of South African Youth Day and the empowerment of the young Tivoli residents who, like the children of the June 16 Soweto Riots, endured their own upheaval in the state-imposed military operation in search of then fugitive Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, it was an opportunity for the group to honour Mandela's achievements and send get-well wishes to him.

Among the highlights was a sing-off of the South African national anthem.

But it was the duo of Tivoli teens Natasha Thompson and Shacquille Henry that won the audience's affection. Singing their Mandela 'get well' song, which the two said they had made up on the spot, their tribute went:

South Africa, we love you

We love you, Nelson Mandela

Who make us love our colour

When di wicked come fi murder

I hope you will recover

I will pray to the Saviour

So you can get better

We love you, Nelson Mandela

The fired-up Glenmuir drummers soon had everyone rocking to the beat as the two gained a huge encore.

Shepherd, who is head of the Institute for Gender and Development Studies at UWI and whose programme airs on Nationwide 90FM on Saturdays at 9 a.m., said Mandela, Stephen Biko and others were a beacon in the struggle for equality in South Africa. She said she wanted the children of Tivoli to "understand that they are not alone and are not too young to effect change".

Born July 18, 1918, Mandela, a lawyer and former African National Congress leader whose 27-year prison sentence fuelled a backlash against the white-led government as well as for its apartheid stance, refused to back down from his views that all men are created equal and were, therefore, deserving of the same treatment.

"I hated oppression ... . You have a limited time to stay on earth. You must try and use that period for the purpose of transforming your country into what you desire it to be: a democratic, non-racial, non-sexist country," he told talk show queen Oprah Winfrey on television in 2000.

Mandela was released from the Victor Vester Prison on February 11, 1990, one of three he served time in, which includes the noto-rious Robben Island.

He became South Africa's first black president, serving from 1994 to 1999, before making way for President Thabo Mbeki.