Few
people in the history of the world have a profound effect on all mankind. Fewer
still are deemed worthy of near sainthood, their death eliciting a cause for
global mourning. Nelson Mandela will be counted among those few.
I saw Mandela in Oakland. June 1990. It
was the last stop on an 8 city tour of the U.S. 4
months after being freed from a South African jail. He had been a political
prisoner for 27 years. At the age of 71 he was a free man.
“Mandela
is coming, Mandela is coming” everybody was talking about it. I did not know
who “Mandela” was. The event was at the Oakland Coliseum. The way folks carried
on I thought he was a (new) rock star. Somebody at work had an extra ticket. Looking
back, I now recognize I saw and heard speak one of the greatest human beings of
all time.
I
went expecting a concert when what actually took place was an old school
love/peace fest/, black power movement/protest, Bay Area style, attended by
58,000 people. In a sea of people banners that read “Oregon” and “Seattle”,
they had come from all over the West Coast. The hippies from Berkeley/San Francisco
and the Black Panthers from Oakland were both well represented. Within an
expanse of multicultural faces, yellow, black and green (the South African
flag) were the colors of the blistering hot day.
Oakland,
CA , the birthplace of the Black Panther/Black Power movement was a fitting
stop for the tour. Fresh out of jail Mandela had come to America to press even
harder for sanctions against corporations that did business with South Africa
under the conditions of apartheid. The ovation that greeted the little old man as
he walked on stage was long and thunderous. He gave his speech and people cried.
When he spoke of equality and (in)justice and freedom for his people in South
Africa it renewed what would became a global response to his plea. (See
Internet videos). Four years later he was elected president of South Africa.
Having
to carry a “pass”, segregation, not being allowed to vote or own property were
the law during apartheid. “We were placed in a position to accept inferiority
or defy the government. We choose to defy the government”. said Mandela. Nelson
Mandela’s story is one of perseverance, dignity and honor. His is the story of
not backing down, of not giving up. He fought the good fight and we all won!
