Madiba Day: A tribute to Nelson Mandel

February 11th is one of the most important days in the history of mankind. It was on this day 34 years ago that South African political activist Nelson Mandela was freed from prison after 27 years of being locked up for his effort in fighting against the oppressive institution of Apartheid in South Africa. This day would mark a new beginning not only for Nelson Mandela, but for the rest of the world as a whole.

The history of apartheid was over 300 years in the making, but it wasn’t declared an official institution until 1948 after World War 2 ended. The system of apartheid was established by South Africa’s White European power structure. Apartheid was specifically meant to be empowering and comforting for South Africa’s white citizens, but was also oppressive towards its Black population with absolutely no intention of changing.

The inhumanity of apartheid’s oppression would face a lot of pushback. It would also give birth to a lot of warriors who were putting their lives on the line on a daily basis to see it come to an end, one of many such warriors was Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela.

His birth name in his village was Madiba, but when he started school in his youth his teacher gave him the name Nelson. Madiba became politically active against apartheid when he started studying law at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. Being the only Black student at the university he faced a lot of racial prejudice which one could easily guess only furled his desire to join the fight for freedom and Justice. Mandela would later become a member of the African National Congress. As a member of the ANC Mandela would spend over 20 years fighting against the oppression of apartheid before he was imprisoned on Robben, Island in the infamous Pretoria prison.

Even in his captivity, Mandela continued to fight against apartheid, along with his cohorts. Just like in his civilian life, Mandela faced a lot of pushback and pitfalls in attempts to derail his efforts, yet he never gave up hope. During his time in prison one of his son’s, Madiba Thembekile Mandela, had passed away. For most this would be the ultimate nail in the coffin of destroying morale, but Madiba kept up his fight even in his grief. Countless supporters around the world were advocating for Madiba’s release.

As the 1980’s were coming to a close South Africa was in chaos. The country had become a wasteland of civil unrest. The nation’s then current leaders realized that apartheid needed to end or its backlash would lead to the collapse of the nation. This would later lead to the negotiations for Mandela’s pardoning. After a meeting with the leaders of the National Party, P.W. Botha and F.W. de Klerk, The ANC of which Mandela was a member, had now been legalized and on February 11, 1990 Nelson Mandela walked out of Victor Verster prison while holding the hand of his wife Winnie.

By 1993 apartheid had met its official end and Nelson Mandela was now in the running to become South Africa’s first President of its new government. By April of 1994 his goal was achieved. After becoming president of South Africa Nelson Mandela continued his journey as a world leader advocating for the betterment of the world. Over the course of the next decade he became a beacon for hope, unity, love and forgiveness. Having passed away just a mere decade ago, Madiba is still loved and revered across the entire planet and the world will never forget this day in which his liberty was solidified in his never ending fight for freedom, justice and equality.