NEWS

(July 18, 1918 – December 5, 2013 )

"Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty we are free at last! "
( A speech delivered by Nelson Mandela in 1994 and addressed to the U.S. Congress )

While millions of people around the globe are still grieving the death of Hollywood actor Paul walker, this time the world mourns over the death of one of the most beloved and recognized black leaders, Nelson Mandela. The great leader, who became a world icon by resisting the system of racial segregation in Africa called APARTHEID and was also the first president of a democratic South Africa, passed away on Thursday at his home in Johannesburg after a protracted lung infection. He died at the age of 95.

"Our nation has lost its greatest son. Our people have lost a father. The founding president of our democratic nation, has departed," said South African President Jacob Zuma when he announced the death of Nelson Mandela.

"Our thoughts are with the millions of people who embraced Mandela as their own and who saw his cause as their cause.… This is the moment of our deepest sorrow,” the African President added.

Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. fought for the same cause at the same time on two continents although they never had a chance to meet each other. Mandela said he was prepared to die to see his dream of a society where blacks and whites are treated equal. King was assassinated in 1968 while working for that same dream while Mandela as we all know, managed to hang on and became a ruler in Africa.

Twenty seven long years were spent in prison by Nelson Mandela during white racist rule in South Africa. Released in 1990, he became President and shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize with the white South African president, F.W. de Klerk. King won his Nobel Peace Prize nearly 30 years earlier.

King and Mandela were inspirational symbols for huge freedom struggles happening in both countries, words uttered by Clay Carson, a Stanford professor and director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute. Carson also added his thought that both of them were moral leaders. Both were people who had very strong principles and stuck to those principles even in the face of criticisms.

Nelson Mandela's death tantamount to overlooking all the rights that he had fought for. He will always be remembered as a very diplomatic leader, a valiant patriot and a great person with and immense heart.

Rest in Peace Nelson Mandela, your legacy will forever be retained in our hearts.

 "If I had my time over I would do the same again. So would any man who dares call himself a man." – Nelson Mandela