Read the lesson Nelson Mandela - A long walk to freedom and Highlight a few incidents that has inspired you in an A4 sheet.( max 2 pages)
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World leaders gathered in South Africa on International Human Rights day to pay respects to Nelson Mandela, a revolutionary leader who devoted his life to making human rights a reality for the millions of South Africans denied dignity under a racist Apartheid regime. This December 10th we marked the 65th Anniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights we also celebrated a life that was testament to transformation.
Mandela’s life became a beacon of light that allowed humanity to see the possibility of a free future lived in the spirit of “Ubuntu.” My South African friends translate Ubuntu as: “people are people through people.” It is an African expression for a universal concept that I understand to be at the root of human rights universality: respect for our shared human dignity. South Africa’s liberation struggle was rooted in a demand for dignity. Mandela’s leadership made possible what few could have imagined—a peaceful transition to a democracy. South Africa today has constitution that enshrines the spirit of Ubuntu through its recognition of a range of substantive human rights due to Mandela’s transformative leadership.
Nelson Mandela’s autobiography bears the appropriate title The Long Walk to Freedom. As we remember the man it is important that we do not forget that Mandela’s walk was not an easy one. Not everyone who walked with Mandela lived to see his release from prison and his rise to lead the Rainbow Nation through a democratic transition. Humanity has not yet arrived at the desired destination of a world where human rights and fundamental freedoms are respected and realized.
As a member of the legal profession and a professor of law I have been reflecting on the role of law in the life and legacy of Nelson Mandela since his death last week. Multiple meanings will be given to his life. It is important to resist the impetus to sanitize Mandela and simplify the complex history of South Africa’s struggle. The Rainbow Nation remains a crucible for understanding human rights and transformation.
On this International Human Rights Day in particular, I am deeply appreciative of the work of freedom fighters and human rights defenders. The societal transformations they created allowed me to create a life that could not have been imagined by those who were enslaved and suffered oppression based on the color of their skin. Unfortunately, I never had the privilege of meeting the man the world has gathered to remember but his life’s work held significant meaning for me and became for me formative. As a child, I followed developments in South Africa with great interest. I am a daughter of the African diaspora. I am the descendant of slaves. I am the product of parents who attended segregated schools and came of age under the brutal enforcement of Jim Crow laws in Louisiana. My mother’s body bore the scars from a beating she suffered after playing on the wrong (white only) playground. So, I deeply identified with the struggle in South Africa as one to oppose laws designed to keep people separate and black people subordinate. I saw parallel paths towards justice and equality. Blacks in the US refused to be relegated to the back of buses. Blacks in South Africa resisted removal to Bantustans. Many people suffered and sacrificed in the pursuit of freedom. My mother was among the many people who resisted racist laws. For her defiance she sat in a Louisiana jail cell. I now stand at the front of a law school classroom. I owe a debt. I try my best to pay it forward.