Too often the media use these words to describe ordinary politicians and mediocre talent.
But there are no other words to describe former South African President Nelson Mandela.
Mandela, who died Thursday at his home in Johannesburg at the age of 95, was by any measure a great man and an icon of human rights of the 20th century.
Mandela, the anti-apartheid leader who spent 27 years in prison for opposing White racist rule, is for South Africans and people throughout the world a symbol of sacrifice and reconciliation from his pivotal role in steering South Africa from the apartheid era into democratic elections in 1994.
Mandela’s legacy in building a free South Africa inspired people around the world.
He dedicated his life to freedom and equality.
At his trial in 1964, Nelson Mandela closed his statement from the dock saying, “I have fought against White domination and I have fought against Black domination. I’ve cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”
Here was a man who spent 27 years in prison fighting for freedom, and once he was free showed no bitterness toward his oppressors.
As South Africa’s first Black president he paved the way to racial reconciliation with incredible forgiveness.
Mandela was hailed as a hero who could have been president for life, but who voluntarily gave up power after only one five-year term in office.
Mandela was a symbol of resistance, inclusion, toughness and grace, humility and greatness. He was a true hero to the world.
(Reprinted from the Philadelphia Tribune)
