Indelible Legacy

　　Bring back Nelson Mandela， bring him back home to Soweto， we want to see him walking downthe streets of South Africa…tomorrow…bring backNelson Mandela…

　　These are excerpts of a song that was etched inthe minds of young people growing up in the late1980s and early 1990s. From the parched wastelandsof Mauritania to the rich minefields of Zaire，and from the mouth of the great Nile， meanderingthrough Sudan， past the savanna of Kenya andTanzania to Mozambique， the words of the songresonated with the unflinching admiration Africanshad for the man held prisoner on Robben Island -the man who held the continent’s hope that SouthAfrica’s oppressive apartheid would be crushed.This song was from the 1988 musical film， Sarafina，a re-enactment of the Soweto Riots， engineeredby high school students on the morning of June 16，1976. The teens rose to oppose policies that soughtto wipe out their culture and confine them to thebins of social-cultural inferiority.

　　African message

　　Hundreds were killed but their courage sent a messageto Africa and the world. In the film， the will towithstand bullets and humiliation is summed up bythe lead actress Leleti Khumalo. She wakes up atdawn， stares at a picture of Nelson Mandela on thewall and simply says， “Good morning Nelson，” in thesame manner one might address the gods or saintsfor intercession.

　　Sarafina， through music， brought Mandelainto the living rooms and minds of youngAfricans outside South Africa， whowere perhaps ignorant， too young andunaware， or had not yet grasped thegravity of apartheid. With it came thename， the face and fist in the air： Mandela- fondly known by all in Africa as TataMadiba (Father Madiba).

　　To adults across Africa though， Madibawas in their thoughts as they went abouttheir lives. In Kenya and across East Africa，

　　men donned the Mandela hairstyle， thestylish parting of hair at the front. They named theirchildren after him， and when one wanted to bragabout his strong will and courage over a calabash ofvillage beer， he simply shouted， “I am a Nelson.” Datingteens in township alleys and grazing fields couldbe heard dropping lines， “I am a Nelson； could yoube my Winnie？” (Winnie is the name of Mandela’ssecond wife).

　　The post-independent Africa hobbled from one misstep to another. Thechinks and honks of independencewere fading away as country after countryhit its cul-de-sac with political andeconomic instability. Looking to Mandela’srelease provided Africans outsideSouth Africa with a great distraction，a fresh ray of hope just like the nightbefore independence.

　　Face of the struggle

　　As the 1990s dragged on， if a foreigner asked you that nerve-wreckingquestion， “What is wrong with Africanleaders？” one could easily quip， “Well， at least wehave Mandela and Mwalimu Julius Nyerere.” This isthe same Mandela of whom the then South AfricanPrime Minister said in 1975， “Anyone who wants totalk to me on the basis that Mandela is the leader ofblack South Africa can forget it.”

　　No amount of brutality could silence Mandela’sloud statement across Africa， a quest for freedomfrom racial bigotry and liberty from the suffocatingills of colonization and neo-colonization. Hisstruggle became one with the struggle of millions ofAfricans oppressed by a festering legacy of slaveryand colonialism.

　　Mandela’s plight galvanized Africans across theglobe. In his book， Dreams of My Father， PresidentBarack Obama says it is in Mandela’s incarcerationand the immorality of Apartheid South Africa thathe found the motivation for his first public orationwhile in university.

　　Africans across the continent who grew up duringMandela’s detention were inspired by his courage；

　　he became the symbol of the pains of SouthAfrican blacks and the indifference with which theworld handled African issues. Mandela’s detentionwas a springboard for a strong sense of Black Poweramong African nations and leaders.

　　As far north as Tanzania and the Maghreb， themalevolence visited on Mandela and his comradesdrove the countries to support Mandela’s cause，offering asylum to South African fugitives and armsand support for fighters.

　　Art of forgiveness

　　His release from prison and ascendancy to presidentof South Africa offered the whole continent an immensesense of triumph and victory. Someone whohad gone into jail angry and spoiling for war cameout after 27 years with a Lincolnian touch： “Withmalice toward none， with charity for all.”

　　He learned that succumbing to vengeful passionsbrought fleeting joys at the cost of lasting benefits.

　　It is with this Solomonic that as president of SouthAfrica， he sought to end relentless wars， bloodlettingand conflict in the Great Lakes Region. Rwanda，DR Congo， Ivory Coast and the then Sudan.

　　He embraced his jailers， and dined with theiron-fisted apartheid leader P. W. Botha， providing alesson in virtue for warring African leaders.

　　Ultimately he left power， which he had almostdied for， to others. He walked off the stage withhonor and dignity. His magnanimity shook thecorners of Africa. It turned the knife in the hearts ofthose leaders who cling to power for life， while settingaside and oppressing opponents. He set the barhigh for the rest of Africa.

　　Yet even as he will tower over his contemporarieslike a colossus， it is in what he thought of himselfthat we find a winner with humbling humility， “Idon’t think there is much history can say about me.I just want to be remembered as part of that collective.”

　　Beyond South Africa， Mandela was created forAfrica.

　　Whence cometh another？

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