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Remembering Madiba in South Africa

December 19, 2013
Blog

I went to South Africa to share with South Africans their farewell to the father of their country, Madiba, who also touched millions of us throughout the world. I also went because, for me, Mandela was a freedom-defining leader.

I knew Nelson Mandela before I met him. I was a member of the Free South Africa Movement, which was led by TransAfrica and became synonymous with "Free Mandela." It was almost 30 years ago that four of us went into the South African Embassy – Randall Robinson, the head of TransAfrica, Dr. Mary Berry, former Congressman Walter Fauntroy, my predecessor, and I, after securing an appointment with the South African ambassador under false pretenses – we did not intend to come out.

However, after we were arrested, we did not envision the cascade of events that followed or the people from all over the country who came to the Embassy to be arrested to abolish apartheid and free Mandela. No one, of course, envisioned the remarkable life of Nelson Mandela, who left 27 years of harsh and unjust incarceration to peacefully and gently lead his fellow South Africans to lay down their grievances, rise above their own years of suffering, and move with him to a new multiracial South Africa.

Published: December 19, 2013