Nu Vibez and Roleplay Guide Magazine - February 2014 | Page 24

The Peaceful “Troublemaker” - p2

angry young man he was and how it was not
going to accomplish a single one of his goals for
this world and for the people of South Africa he
held so dear.
If there are dreams about a
beau ful South Africa, there are
also roads that lead to their goal.
Two of these roads could be named
Goodness and Forgiveness. –
Nelson Mandela
The life imprisonment term did not sit well
with others and an interna onal campaign
lobbied for his release in 1990. A er 27 years,
Nelson Mandela once again breathed the fresh
air of freedom, giving him the opportunity to
go forth in peace, and act on his desire to make
change with posi ve ac ons, not destruc on
and violence.
In 1993, Nelson Mandela, with Frederik Willem
de Klerk, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize,
“for their work for the peaceful termina on of
the apartheid regime, and for laying the
founda ons for a new democra c South
Africa.”
There is nothing like returning to a
place that remains unchanged to
find the ways in which you yourself
have altered. – Nelson Mandela
When I started wri ng this piece, I men oned
it to a friend of mine who, without pause, says
to me with some vehemence, “while wri ng it
you must remember he was a terrorist.” This
set me off my game some, surprising me,
because my own knowledge of the man was

24 - Nu Vibez Magazine - February 2014

not this, nor did the wri en history suggest that
he was, save his early beginnings that Mandela
himself swi ly changed.
So, I went sought out another source who
happened to be a teenager in the 60's and to
date is a staunch Republican (like my friend)
and I asked my source for her recollec on of
Nelson Mandela. I think I was expec ng her to
say something similar, but wow did she surprise
me. She looked at me and with vehemence of
her own says to me, “he was a great man!”
I detest racialism, because I regard
it as a barbaric thing, whether it
comes from a black man or a white
man. – Nelson Mandela
No, the conversa on did not end there, suffice
it to say, her recollec ons mirrored the public
record, but in the end, she reinforced my
research, that here was a man who as a young
adult, as happens to so many of us, started out
on the wrong path, yet instead of taking what
so many turn to poison in their souls
(incarcera on), became the best of us and
brought about peaceful change that's lasted
decades.
His passing marks the end of an era and he will
be missed. And though I am not black, it is with
great hope that I look to the future, as should
we all, because of Nelson Mandela.
Let freedom reign. The sun never
s et o n s o g l o r i o u s a h u m a n
achievement. – Nelson Mandela