From Prisoner to Peacemaker

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An icon of hope and unity: Nelson Mandela, the Apostle of peace.

“I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities”- Nelson Mandela

This is the very ideal for which Nelson Mandela was jailed for 27 years. Despite his imprisonment, Nelson Mandela continued to believe in these ideals. He was a man of peace. He had a powerful presence and disarmed enemies with his smile. He showed the world what forgiveness looks like. He was positive, thinking about what could be. He held no bitterness. He did not seek revenge. Aspiring leaders everywhere should take the time to study this man, his accomplishments, and the characteristics that helped transform a country and the world.

After his release, the apostle of peace continued to put them into practice. In times of turbulence, Nelson Mandela shows us the power of resisting oppression, justice over inequality, dignity over humiliation, and forgiveness over hatred.

As a young man, Mandela was educated by a Methodist Church in writing and history. He later attended a Methodist high school and Methodist college. After leaving the university, Nelson Mandela found a job as a clerk at a law firm. That firm was staffed by people who were sympathetic to the anti-colonial cause. At the time, political parties such as the African National Congress (ANC) and the Communist Party wished to topple British and white domination.

Gandhi methodology

All human beings are equal in dignity and rights and born free. While at first embracing the non-violent methods of Mahatma Gandhi, Mandela soon concluded that white domination of his country could not be ended peacefully. He and others organized a guerrilla force to sabotage infrastructure and resist the government, which increasingly used violent means to crack down on protests. In 1962, Mandela was captured by the South African Police. At his trial, Mandela gave speeches that explained his ideology; he wished to create a democratic South Africa which did not discriminate based on race. He was convicted of all charges against him and imprisoned for life.

Mandela became the first black head of state in South Africa and the first democratically elected representative.“The true character of society is revealed in how it treats its children,” Mandela said in 1997. Throughout his life, Mandela lived by those words as a champion for the rights of children. During his tenure as President Nelson Mandela donated a third of his salary to create the organization, which he charged with ending extreme poverty and its symptoms- hunger, exploitation, and homelessness.

Mandela was the leading figure in the fight against South Africa’s racist apartheid system. Under his leadership, South Africa made great strides towards overcoming its racist past. Many people consider him to be the father of South Africa. He was an outspoken advocate for equal rights and worked tirelessly to improve the lives of those who were marginalized by racial discrimination. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for his peaceful destruction of Apartheid and for laying the foundations for democracy.

Remedy for atrocities

Nelson Mandela’s influence was the creation and operation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission investigates violations of human rights and offers a framework to remedy these atrocities.

Nelson Mandela sought remembrance, rather than revenge, in response to injustices under Apartheid rule. He understood that the key to moving forward as a nation was understanding and learning from its troubled past. The program is a beacon for human rights volition investigators everywhere and stands as a shining example as a guide for healing from past atrocities and unifying divided peoples.

In popular sentiment, retributive justice is probably the most common response to injustices and wrongdoings. Reconciliation involves transforming relationships damaged by violent conflict and oppression. It focuses on improving both horizontal relationships, between people and groups in society, and vertical relationships between people and institutions. Establishing truth commissions is a very popular reconciliation effort, for it aims to meet the public demand for truth-telling from the victims. In this aspect, truth commissions could contribute to conflict transformation by creating spaces where people feel safe and can honestly talk about their fears and hopes, hurts and responsibilities. A truth commission, if carefully designed and properly mandated, can have a considerable psychological impact, not only on the victims and perpetrators at the personal level.

Ideally, reconciliation prevents, once and for all, the use of the past as the seed of renewed conflict. It consolidates peace, breaks the cycle of violence and strengthens newly established or reintroduced democratic institutions.

Co-existence, trust and empathy develop between individuals who are connected as victims, beneficiaries and perpetrators. This is reconciliation at the interpersonal level.

Burying the past in a reconciliatory way requires the mobilization of a variety of techniques. Most of them have to be activated in the short run: healing the wounds of the survivors; some form of restorative justice; historical accounting via truth-telling; and reparation of the material and psychological damage inflicted on the victims.

Political will

Globally, politicians and political parties should protect against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance by enacting laws and creating. Political will and leadership are vital to countering racism, discrimination and hate crime. Hate speech covers many forms of expressions which advocate, incite, promote or justify hatred, violence and discrimination against a person or group of persons for a variety of reasons. Education and counter-speech are also equally important in fighting the misconceptions and misinformation that form the basis of hate speech.

Humans are complex bundles of emotion, intelligence, values, and ideas. Giving space for this diversity makes teams stronger. Learning about other cultures helps us understand different perspectives within the world in which we live. It helps dispel negative stereotypes and personal biases about different groups.

In addition, cultural diversity helps us recognize and respect “ways of being” that are not necessarily our own. As we interact with others we can build bridges to trust, respect, and understanding across cultures. Multiculturalism has many benefits. It encourages open-mindedness amongst different groups of people and it dispels negative stereotypes. Interacting with people who have diverse practices, beliefs, life experiences, and cultures promotes empathy. May we all learn from the legacy of Nelson Mandela.

Dishan Joseph