Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela è stato un politico sudafricano, primo presidente a essere eletto dopo la fine dell'apartheid nel suo Paese e premio Nobel per la pace nel 1993 insieme al suo predecessore Frederik Willem de Klerk.
Rivoluzionario e uomo di un governo di riconciliazione e pacificazione, successivamente, fu a lungo uno dei leader del movimento anti-apartheid ed ebbe un ruolo determinante nella caduta di tale regime, pur passando in carcere gran parte degli anni dell'attivismo anti-segregazionista. Uomo simbolo dell'uguaglianza e dell'anti-razzismo, premio Nobel, Lenin e Sakharov per pace e libertà di pensiero ha saputo dosare differenti approcci politici e pragmatici alla lotta di liberazione del suo popolo, dalle iniziali teorie di opposizione non violenta di Gandhi, che tenterà anche in seguito di anteporre, alla lotta armata, dal comunismo marxista alla democrazia.
Di ideologia Ubuntu, internazionalista ma nel disegno del nazionalismo africano e socialista democratica, la sua ispirazione politica venne influenzata dal marxismo. Si ispirò in parte alla rivoluzione cubana nella fondazione del movimento armato Umkhonto we Sizwe; all'epoca dell'arresto che lo condurrà ad una prigionia di 27 anni era membro del Comitato Centrale del Partito Comunista Sudafricano. Negli anni successivi, portò l'ANC nell'Internazionale Socialista. Protagonista insieme al presidente Frederik Willem de Klerk dell'abolizione dell'apartheid all'inizio degli anni novanta, venne eletto presidente nel 1994, nelle prime elezioni multirazziali del Sudafrica, rimanendo in carica fino al 1999. Il suo partito, l'African National Congress , è rimasto da allora ininterrottamente al governo del paese.
Mandela è il cognome assunto dal nonno paterno. Il nome "Rolihlahla" gli fu attribuito alla nascita; "Nelson" gli fu invece assegnato alle scuole elementari. Il nomignolo Madiba era il suo nome all'interno del clan di appartenenza, dell'etnia Xhosa.
“Un vincitore è semplicemente un sognatore che non si è mai arreso.”
Origine: Citato in Antonio Gaspari, È morto un grande uomo! http://www.zenit.org/it/articles/e-morto-un-grande-uomo, Zenit.org, 6 dicembre 2013. Citato anche in Gino & Michele e Paolo Borraccetti, Le cicale 2010, Kowalski – Feltrinelli, Milano, 2009, [//books.google.it/books?id=9LpkZInLQLQC&pg=PT49 § 2759]: «Un vincitore è un sognatore che non si è arreso».
da Lungo cammino verso la libertà, 1995
“Ho tre amici nel mondo, e sono Yasser Arafat, Muammar Gheddafi e Fidel Castro.”
Origine: Citato in Filippo Bovo, La Morte Di Nelson Mandela https://web.archive.org/web/20160305030821/http://www.statopotenza.eu/9599/la-morte-di-nelson-mandela, Statopotenza.eu, 6 dicembre 2013.
da "Experience Ubuntu Interview", di Tim Modise, 24 maggio 2006
Origine: Dal messaggio dal carcere, pubblicato sul Manifesto dell'ANC, 10 giugno 1980.
Origine: Lungo cammino verso la libertà, p. 21
Origine: Citato in Muore Miriam Makeba dopo il concerto per Saviano http://www.repubblica.it/2008/11/sezioni/spettacoli_e_cultura/makeba-muore/makeba-muore/makeba-muore.html, Repubblica.it, 10 novembre 2008.
Origine: Citato in Morto Botha, leader dell'apartheid. Mandela: aprì la strada alla pacificazione http://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/SoleOnLine4/Attualita%20ed%20Esteri/Esteri/2006/11/rb1112006_botha.shtml?uuid=8e17a576-698e-11db-b778-00000e251029&DocRulesView=Libero, Il Sole 24 Ore.com, 1º novembre 2006.
Origine: Lungo cammino verso la libertà, p. 18
1990s, Long Walk to Freedom (1995)
Contesto: It was during those long and lonely years that my hunger for the freedom of my own people became a hunger for the freedom of all people, white and black. I knew as well as I knew anything that the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed. A man who takes away another man's freedom is a prisoner of hatred, he is locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness. I am not truly free if I am taking away someone else's freedom, just as surely as I am not free when my freedom is taken from me. The oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity.
When I walked out of prison, that was my mission, to liberate the oppressed and the oppressor both. Some say that has now been achieved. But I know that that is not the case. The truth is that we are not yet free; we have merely achieved the freedom to be free, the right not to be oppressed. We have not taken the final step of our journey, but the first step on a longer and even more difficult road. For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. The true test of our devotion to freedom is just beginning.
Speech, Madison Park High School, Boston, 23 June 1990; Partly cited in Remembering Nelson Mandela's Visit To Roxbury http://wgbhnews.org/post/remembering-nelson-mandelas-visit-roxbury at wgbhnews.org, December 5, 2013; and partly cited in " Nelson Mandela’s 1990 visit left lasting impression http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/12/07/mandela-visit-boston-high-school-left-lasting-impression/2xZ1QqkVMTbHKXiFEJynTO/story.html" by Peter Schworm on bostonglobe.com, December 7, 2013
1990s
Contesto: We are deeply concerned, both in our country and here, of the very large number of dropouts by schoolchildren. This is a very disturbing situation, because the youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow... try as much as possible to remain in school, because education is the most powerful weapon which we can use.
“The life of Che is an inspiration to all human beings who cherish freedom.”
1990s, Speech at a Rally in Cuba (1991)
Contesto: We also honour the great Che Guevara, whose revolutionary exploits, including on our own continent, were too powerful for any prison censors to hide from us. The life of Che is an inspiration to all human beings who cherish freedom. We will always honour his memory.
2000s, The Sacred Warrior (2000)
Contesto: India is Gandhi's country of birth; South Africa his country of adoption. He was both an Indian and a South African citizen. Both countries contributed to his intellectual and moral genius, and he shaped the liberatory movements in both colonial theaters.
He is the archetypal anticolonial revolutionary. His strategy of noncooperation, his assertion that we can be dominated only if we cooperate with our dominators, and his nonviolent resistance inspired anticolonial and antiracist movements internationally in our century.
“I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.”
1990s, Long Walk to Freedom (1995)
Contesto: I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one's head pointed toward the sun, one's feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.
Also quoted in Nelson Mandela: from freedom to the future: tributes and speeches (2003), edited by Kader Asmal & David Chidester. Jonathan Ball, p. 332
1990s, Speech at the Zionist Christian Church Easter Conference (1992)
Contesto: Yes! We affirm it and we shall proclaim it from the mountaintops, that all people – be they black or white, be they brown or yellow, be they rich or poor, be they wise or fools, are created in the image of the Creator and are his children! Those who dare to cast out from the human family people of a darker hue with their racism! Those who exclude from the sight of God's grace, people who profess another faith with their religious intolerance! Those who wish to keep their fellow countrymen away from God's bounty with forced removals! Those who have driven away from the altar of God people whom He has chosen to make different, commit an ugly sin! The sin called Apartheid.
1990s, Inaugural celebration address (1994)
Contesto: Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world.
Let freedom reign!
The sun shall never set on so glorious a human achievement!
God bless Africa!
Speech for the "Make Poverty History" campaign http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4232603.stm. Trafalgar Square, London (3 February 2005).
2000s
Contesto: Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. And overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life. While poverty persists, there is no true freedom.
“My fellow South Africans — the people of South Africa:
This is indeed a joyous night.”
1990s, Victory speech (1994)
Contesto: My fellow South Africans — the people of South Africa:
This is indeed a joyous night. Although not yet final, we have received the provisional results of the election, and are delighted by the overwhelming support for the African National Congress.
To all those in the African National Congress and the democratic movement who worked so hard these last few days and through these many decades, I thank you and honour you. To the people of South Africa and the world who are watching: this a joyous night for the human spirit. This is your victory too. You helped end apartheid, you stood with us through the transition.
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.”
1990s, Long Walk to Freedom (1995)
Contesto: I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.
1960s, First court statement (1962)
Contesto: In its proper meaning equality before the law means the right to participate in the making of the laws by which one is governed, a constitution which guarantees democratic rights to all sections of the population, the right to approach the court for protection or relief in the case of the violation of rights guaranteed in the constitution, and the right to take part in the administration of justice as judges, magistrates, attorneys-general, law advisers and similar positions.
In the absence of these safeguards the phrase 'equality before the law', in so far as it is intended to apply to us, is meaningless and misleading. All the rights and privileges to which I have referred are monopolized by whites, and we enjoy none of them. The white man makes all the laws, he drags us before his courts and accuses us, and he sits in judgement over us.
1990s, Inaugural speech (1994)
Contesto: Today we are entering a new era for our country and its people. Today we celebrate not the victory of a party, but a victory for all the people of South Africa.
Our country has arrived at a decision. Among all the parties that contested the elections, the overwhelming majority of South Africans have mandated the African National Congress to lead our country into the future. The South Africa we have struggled for, in which all our people, be they African, Coloured, Indian or White, regard themselves as citizens of one nation is at hand.
1990s, Nobel Prize acceptance speech (1993)
1990s, The International Day Of Solidarity With The Palestinian People (1997)
1960s, I am Prepared to Die (1964)
Refusing to bargain for freedom after 21 years in prison, as quoted in TIME (25 February 1985)
1980s
2000s, Iraq War speech (2003)
1990s, Inaugural celebration address (1994)
1990s, The International Day Of Solidarity With The Palestinian People (1997)
At his speech in Moria, on 3 April 1994
1990s, Speech at the Zionist Christian Church Easter Conference (1994)
Speech on the day of his release, Cape Town (11 February 1990)
1990s
On death, in an interview for the documentary Mandela (1994). Source: From Nelson Mandela By Himself: The Authorised Book of Quotations © 2010 by Nelson R. Mandela and The Nelson Mandela Foundation http://www.nelsonmandela.org/content/mini-site/selected-quotes
1990s
“I have always believed that exercise is the key not only to physical health but to peace of mind.”
1990s, Long Walk to Freedom (1995)
Nelson Mandela on character, Foreign Correspondent's Association's Annual Dinner, Johannesburg, South Africa (21 November 1997). Source: From Nelson Mandela By Himself: The Authorised Book of Quotations © 2010 by Nelson R. Mandela and The Nelson Mandela Foundation http://www.nelsonmandela.org/content/mini-site/selected-quotes
1990s
Suzanne Belling, "Mandela bears message of peace in first visit to Israel", http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/12309/edition_id/237/format/html/displaystory.html jweekly.com, 22 October 1999
Attributed
Nelson Mandela on freedom fighters, Upon Receiving the Roosevelt Freedom Award (8 June 2002). Source: From Nelson Mandela By Himself: The Authorised Book of Quotations © 2010 by Nelson R. Mandela and The Nelson Mandela Foundation http://www.nelsonmandela.org/content/mini-site/selected-quotes
2000s
“Long live the Cuban revolution! Long live Comrade Fidel Castro!”
1990s, Speech at a Rally in Cuba (1991)
