Throughout the ages, many great men have come and gone, leaving their mark on the world.
Nelson Mandela, however, made a unique contribution that will provide inspiration for generations to come.
Indianapolis residents have been among millions around the world celebrating the life of Mandela, who died Dec. 5 at age 95.
President Barack Obama led the United States in honoring the freedom fighter, human rights advocate and former South African president, who became an icon of justice and reconciliation.
During a memorial service held in South Africa this week, Obama described Mandela as “a giant of history, who moved a nation toward justice, and in the process moved billions around the world.”
An inspiring life
Mandela became an international figure after he left his law practice in Johannesburg to become an active leader in the African National Congress (ANC), an organization dedicated to ending apartheid, South Africa’s rigid system of racial segregation that was implemented in 1948.
Mandela was jailed for his activities against the apartheid government, and spent 27 years in prison away from his family.
He was greeted with jubilation from supporters and well-wishers around the world upon his release in 1990. He immediately set about working for “peace, democracy and freedom” for all South Africans.
“I stand here before you not as a prophet but as a humble servant of you, the people,” Mandela told a crowd in Cape Town after his release. “Your tireless and heroic sacrifices have made it possible for me to be here today. I therefore place the remaining years of my life in your hands.”
Mandela became the international symbol of the movement for equality when Black South Africans were under white minority rule, and promoted racial reconciliation after the fall of apartheid. He took part in a transitional government that gave Black and biracial South Africans the right to vote for the first time.
Mandela was elected the nation’s first Black president in 1994.
After leaving office in 1999, he continued to serve as a respected voice in international political affairs, especially during peace negotiations over armed conflicts, until he retired from public life in 2004.
Indianapolis tributes
Local leaders and residents remembered Mandela as a man who, though he lived thousands of miles away, had a direct impact on their lives.
Congressman Andre’ Carson described Mandela as “one of the greatest leaders” in the advancement of equality and human rights.
“We have lost a bright beacon of hope and equality for all people,” Carson said. “Nelson Mandela’s peaceful struggle against apartheid inspired a nation to stand against oppression. Let us honor his legacy of peace and justice through our actions each and every day. We should strive to live by his example.”
Indianapolis City-County Council member William “Duke” Oliver introduced a special resolution honoring Mandela this week.
“The Council celebrates former President Mandela for his passionate fight for a free society and equal rights for all,” Oliver said.
On Sunday, the Church Federation of Greater Indianapolis held a special memorial service for Mandela at the Indiana Statehouse.
“Nelson Mandela was an incomparable world leader who inspired generations to rise above political and ethnic divisions to bring about a more just, equitable and peaceful world,” said Dr. Angelique Walker Smith, executive director of the church federation.
Sweeney Chapel on the campus of Christian Theological Seminary (CTS) was packed Tuesday with local clergy, residents and students who gathered for another worship service in honor of Mandela.
“He was an inspiration to us all to use your life to make a difference in the lives of other people,” said Oscar Banks, associate pastor of young adults and missions at Light of the World Christian Church.
Rev. Joseph Colquitt, another minister who attended the service, remembers seeing Mandela speak at Georgia Institute of Technology’s stadium during a visit to the United States shortly after his release from prison.
“It was one thing to read about Mandela’s struggle and that of the South African people, it was another to actually hear it in his own words,” said Colquitt, an associate pastor at Phillips Temple CME Church. “That experience was amazing and surreal. He impacted the lives of people around the world in a profound way.”
Colquitt’s wife, Adrienne, who is also a minister, added that Mandela truly lived up to the Bantu term “Ubuntu,” which roughly translates into “human-ness” and means “we are all interconnected, that there is oneness in humanity and that we achieve it by sharing ourselves with others and caring for those around us.”
Tuesday’s service at CTS was also a ceremony to commission faculty member and Mandela friend Allan Boesak as he and his family departed for Washington, D.C., where he presided over events at the National Cathedral.
Boesak, who then traveled to South Africa to represent CTS, Butler University and Central Indiana at Mandela’s funeral service Dec. 15, credited Mandela with “restoring hope” among South Africans and proved to freedom loving people around the world that peaceful political activism can be successful in achieving equality.
“That hope was personified to a very real extent by the person and the politics of Nelson Mandela,” said Boesak, a leader in South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement who is now the Desmond Tutu Chair for Peace, Global Justice, and Reconciliation Studies, a position held jointly with Butler and CTS.
During the 1980s, Boesak’s United Democratic Front coalition worked closely with Mandela’s African National Congress (ANC) party to get him out of prison. After Mandela’s release, Boesak directed the ANC in South Africa’s western cape.
Fortunately, Mandela had an opportunity to visit Indianapolis 20 years ago.
In July of 1993, he spoke at the Indiana Convention Center during the 84th national convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
During the visit, which was part of a U.S. tour to raise funds for South Africa’s first free, multiracial elections, Mandela said his goal was to help “put power back into the hands of the people.”
Speaking before a crowd of 12,000, he said international support was needed to facilitate elections that truly reflected the aspirations of South Africa’s people, made voting convenient for millions of new voters (many of whom were illiterate) and produced legitimate results.
Life after Mandela
With Mandela departed from the world stage, some have begun to consider how his legacy can be upheld for centuries to come.
Rev. Byron Vaughn, leader of Prisoners Reformed United, a local organization that helps ex-offenders transform their lives, believes Mandela’s life after prison could be used as an example of how people who serve their time and leave prison can succeed if they are truly given a second chance to build a stable life.
“Since he got out of prison and was treated as a returning citizen instead of an ex-felon, he was able to develop from a prisoner into a president,” Vaughn said. “This is a lesson for both Indiana, and generally, America. When a person has been convicted of a crime and served their time, then society must remove all obstacles that hampers their development.”
In his address, President Obama reminded everyone they can make Mandela’s life work their own.
“With honesty, regardless of our station or circumstance, we must ask: how well have I applied his lessons in my own life?” Obama said.
