Nelson Mandela Spiritual Biography Essay

Nelson Mandela challenged the status quo in many ways weather it was done politically, socially, or personally, in order to achieve such high goals Mandela paid many great personal expenses. Before the acts of Nelson Mandela, the country of South Africa was broken; it was plunged in a deep racism with the election in 1948. The regime of 1948 committed the crime of Apartheid which is defined as the action of committing inhumane acts of a character similar to other crimes against humanity which is committed in the context of an institutionalized regime which systematically oppresses and dominates one racial group over any other racial group or groups and commits it with the intention of maintaining that regime. Mandela would oppose the ideas of this regime and eventually play a major role in the elimination of the apartheid they worked in evil to create. In his autobiography Nelson Mandela describes his trials and tribulations on his journey to the freedom of South Africa hence the name of the book â€Å" Long Walk To Freedom†. From the time when he was young, Mandela was raised to be a leader. Nelson Mandela belongs to a cadet branch of the Thembu dynasty, which reigns in the Transkei region of South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province. When Mandela was nine, his father died of tuberculosis and the regent, Jongintaba, became his guardian. He attended many schools including The Wesleyan College in Healdtown, this is where most of the Thembu royalty went to college. Jongintaba conditioned Mandela to be a leader and these characteristics’ show during his presidency. However this leadership training was cut short by the fact that so many people of royalty face, arranged marrage. Shortly after leaving Fort Hare, Jongintaba announced to Mandela and Justice (the regent’s son and heir to the throne) that he had arranged marriages for both of them. He fled to Johannesburg in order to avoid being forcefully married and what he found was a country whose national flag was in the dictionary next to the word apartheid. Determined to change the status quo he embarked on a political campaign and joined the ANC and began practicing terrorism. He was arrested and sentenced to life in prison. He was released twenty seven years later by making the promise that he would stop participating in terrorism. He went back to the ANC and used it as his political party to run for office. He won due to the fact that he had won the right to vote for many of the black South Africans who supported him. He unified the country, most notably through rugby, but also helped to raise many of the blacks, whale not neglecting the whites, out of poverty. He is still an influential character to this day, and leads many humanitarian organizations. He is currently in the hospital due to medical troubles but he is expected to make a recovery. Starting in his early life Nelson Mandela always challenged the status quo. During this time he escaped an arranged marriage and thus beginning a life of meaningful defiance, defiance that would improve the lives of all those around him, defiance that lift a race from the depths of poverty, defiance that would end apartheid. He began his political campaign through peaceful protesting taking from the ideas of Gandhi with peaceful non- violent protest. This is shown by â€Å" I cannot pinpoint the a moment when I became politicized, when I knew that I would spend my life in the liberation struggle. To be African in South Africa means that one is politicized from the moment of ones birth , weather one acknowledges it or not.† (Long Walk to Freedom 208). He joined the ANC and on December 5 1956. Shortly after Mandela and 150 others were protesting non- violently and were arrested and charged with treason, however all of the defendants received acquittals. Mandela realized that he would need more aggressive tactics in order to end apartheid. He defied the 1948 regime which supported and strengthened apartheid in South Africa, exemplified by a biography of Nelson Mandela â€Å" The NP seized the political initiative in 1948 and retained it into the early 1950s, pushing through its agenda of apartheid legislation without seeming to pay any heed, let alone making any compromises, to the political forces arranged against it.† (Nelson Mandela 46). This quote exemplifies why Mandela abandoned his non- violent means, because the regime had total support from the white population and would not change its views in any way. In 1961 Mandela became the leader of the armed wing of the ANC and continued his defiance by violent means. Mandela described the move to armed struggle as a last resort; Due to the fact that the oppression and violence from the government was increasing despite his best efforts, this convinced Mandela that even with many more years of non-violent protest against apartheid, he could not eliminate apartheid non-violently. And in June 1961, Mandela sent a letter to South African newspapers warning the government, that if they did not meet their demands, the Umkhonto we Sizwe would embark on a campaign of sabotage. The letter demanded the government accept a call for a national constitutional convention. The demands were not met by the government and beginning on 16 December 1961, the Umkhonto we Sizwe with Mandela as its leader, launched a bombing campaign against government targets with the first action of the campaign being the bombing of an electricity sub –station. In total, over the next eighteen months, the Umkhonto we Sizwe would initiate dozens more acts of sabotage and bombings. This is shown by his quote â€Å"I do not deny that I planned sabotage. I did not plan it in a spirit of recklessness nor because I have any love of violence. I planned it as a result of a calm and sober assessment of the political situation that had arisen after many years of tyranny, exploitation and oppression of my people by the whites.† (Nelson Mandela). This exemplified his true defiance of apartheid, that he was willing to corrupt his values to achieve a goal. Nelson Mandela did not follow the status quo by any means during these years of his life. His trial also exemplifies how he did not follow the status quo. He tried to use his trial to fight apartheid but this argument did not abide so well with the white judge who was appointed by the 1948 administration. In the end he was found guilty of many crimes as stated in â€Å" Crimes Charged: (1) The commission of acts of sabotage together with the communist party; (2) conspiracy to aid or procure wrongful acts concerning the recruitment of persons for training in the preparation and use of explosives for committing acts of violence, conspiracy to commit acts of guerilla warfare, acts of assistance to military units of foreign countries invading South Africa, and acts of participation in violent revolution; (3) the execution of the common purpose of committing the acts set out above; (4) soliciting money in South Africa and abroad and disbursing those funds in the interests of their campaign† ( Great World Trials 347). Although this quote may be long and difficult to read, it is indicative evidence for what they are truly imprisoning Mandela for, to silence his defiance. After his trial and conviction and he was taken to Robben Island where he would truly begin his spiritual journey. Even the prison system in South Africa was segregated and Mandela was a D- Class Prisoner and was only allowed one visit and letter per month. However even though Mandela was in Jail his wife, Winnie Mandela continued defying apartheid shown by â€Å" All the while, Mandela’s wife, Winnie Mandela, who was both his loyal supported and respected representative on the outside, spent the decades protesting and periodically being tried, imprisoned, and banned for her political activity.†( Great World Trials 352). Mandela began a journey of knowledge gaining a Bachelor of laws from the University of London via their external program shown by â€Å" I was still in the midst of perusing my L.L.B. at the Universi ty of London. I had started studying for the L.L.B. at the University of London during the Rivonia Trial† ( Long Walk to Freedom 504). This clearly exemplifies Mandela’s defiance, that even though they locked him up he still perused his goal of ending apartheid which he found to be best served by furthering his education and gaining a law degree. Mandela also read poetry growing very fond of a poem by William Earnest Henley called Invictus. These beautiful words inspired him to not be revengeful towards the whites who put him in prison but rather to seek unity. Mandela was eventually released from jail on February 2, 1990 after he made a deal with President F. W. de Klerk who had gotten rid of the ban on ANC and other organizations like it. Upon his release from prison he rejoined the leadership of the ANC now lead by Chris Hani. Mandela gained control of the ANC in April of 1993 following the assassination of Chris Hani. By then the ANC and other anti- apartheid organizations had won the rights of the black population to vote. Mandela used the ANC as his political party to commit the ultimate act of defiance, run for the presidency of South Africa. The ANC won 62 percent of the votes in the election, and Mandela was inaugurated as South Africa’s first black president on May 10 1994. Nelson Mandela viewed this as the beginning of his journey and not the time to relax shown by â€Å" I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can rest only for a moment, for with freedom comes responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk has not yet ended.† ( Long Walk to Freedom 640). Mandela had committed the ultimate act of defiance of running for president and came out victorious, the white residents of South Africa was in for some payback for imprisoning him for 27 years, at least that was the general idea carried by the white population when Mandela was elected, but Mandela had other plans. When Nelson Mandela first walked into his office as president he found many of the people who worked in his office, such as secretaries, packing up their things in anticipation of Mandela firing them. Mandela called them into his office and many thought that they were about to get fired. Instead Mandela asked them to put aside their political views and asked all of the old employees to stay and work with him. In doing this he is once again defying the status quo, which was that he would seek revenge on the whites for his imprisonment, but instead of revenge he sought unity. He unified the country in many ways most notably through rugby. He now asked others not to follow the status quo. He asked to blacks to back the previously hated Springboks, the South African Rugby Team. A movie named Invictus tells the story of this as the underdog South African team lead by the captain of the rugby team Francois Pienaar won against the favored New Zealand rugby team. This is shown by â€Å" When he took the field in a rugby uniform after South Africa won the 1995 World Cup, the virtually all white crowd chanted, â€Å" Nelson! Nelson!†.† (Nelson Mandela 142. During his reign as president Nelson Mandela virtually ended apartheid in South Africa ushering in a new era for prosperity for the country. In all Nelson Mandela was a very influential human rights activist and his work can be categorized to be as great as the work of Gandhi or Martin Luther King Jr. due to the basic human rights that he rightfully gave to so many South Africans. He also is an influential leader to this day and has his name on many charitable organizations. He defied the status quo of a country and won. In the End these words given the title of Invictus by William Ernest Henley truly reflect Nelson Mandela’s desire for unity and his capacity for forgiveness. Out of the night that covers me, Black as the Pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years†¨Finds, and shall find, me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll. I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul. Works Cited Mandela, Nelson, Wyk Chris Van, and Paddy Bouma. Long Walk to Freedom. New York: Flash Point/Roaring Brook, 2009. Print. Maltz, Leora. Nelson Mandela. San Diego: Greenhaven, 2004. Print. Knappman, Edward W. Great World Trials. Detroit: Gale Research, 1997. Print. Invictus 2009. Perf. Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. Warner Bros., 2009. BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 17 Dec. 2012.