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Nelson Mandela. His name alone connotes an image of strength and fierce conviction. But it’s difficult to express in any simple sentiment the various ways in which this brave political leader changed the face of politics, both at home in South Africa and around the world.
On November 29, less than a week before Mandela’s passing, Idris Elba stepped into the role of the man who would eliminate apartheid in his home country in Justin Chadwick’s Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, an adaptation of Mandela’s 1994 autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, which the late activist wrote while he was in prison. The film was met with much praise following its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in September, with Variety critic Scott Foundas noting that “Idris Elba gives a towering performance, a Mandela for the ages.”
As a primer to the film’s wider release, we’re recounting the 10 Ways Nelson Mandela Changed The World.
10. Realizing the importance of courting the youth vote.
Long before Bill Clinton was playing his sax on The Arsenio Hall Show or Barack Obama was making campaign trail appearances on MTV, Nelson Mandela had realized the importance of engaging youth in the political process.
After joining the African National Congress (ANC) in 1944, South Africa’s 100-year-old national liberation movement, one of Mandela’s key projects became establishing its youth league, better known as the ANCYL. Working with him in this endeavor was Mandela’s longtime friend, Oliver Tambo; the duo knew a thing or two about political awareness. Just four years earlier, Mandela and Tambo had been expelled from the prestigious University of Fort Hare for taking part in a protest against the university’s policies.
9. Promoting nonviolent action as the preferred method of protest.
Mandela’s commitment to changing the face of South African politics was only emboldened in 1948, when the National Party became the country’s governing party and introduced a formal policy of apartheid, a system of racial segregation that allowed for white minority rule. The ANC and ANCYL immediately leapt into action, organizing a series of peaceful protests, boycotts, and other acts of civil disobedience. Mandela headed up 1952’s Campaign for the Defiance of Unjust Laws, which saw volunteers travel across the country to engage in nonviolent protests against the National Party’s discriminatory tenets, armed with little more than a fierce desire for equality and a couple of freedom songs.
That same year, Mandela and Tambo opened the country’s first black law firm, which offered low-cost and pro bono legal services to citizens who had been affected by apartheid.
Despite their pacific methods, Mandela and more than 150 activists were arrested and charged with “high treason and a countrywide conspiracy to use violence to overthrow the present government and replace it with a communist state” for their actions in 1956—a crime of which they were eventually all acquitted (albeit more than four years later).
8. Taking more drastic measures when more drastic measures were required.
After narrowly escaping death following his acquittal in the treason trial, Mandela’s attitude toward violence began to change. In 1961, the ANC established its first military wing—Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation, MK)—with Mandela as its commander. The organization, of course, posed a threat to the ruling National Party and as such was banned under the Unlawful Organizations Act. Mandela responded by launching a bombing campaign against a series of government targets.
On July 11, 1963, Mandela was arrested for his attacks on the government and charged with more than 200 counts of “sabotage, preparing for guerrilla warfare in South Africa, and for preparing an armed invasion of South Africa.” In his opening statement, Mandela explained his shift toward violence by stating:
“At the beginning of June 1961, after a long and anxious assessment of the South African situation, I, and some colleagues, came to the conclusion that as violence in this country was inevitable, it would be unrealistic and wrong for African leaders to continue preaching peace and non-violence at a time when the government met our peaceful demands with force. This conclusion was not easily arrived at. It was only when all else had failed, when all channels of peaceful protest had been barred to us, that the decision was made to embark on violent forms of political struggle, and to form Umkhonto we Sizwe. We did so not because we desired such a course, but solely because the Government had left us with no other choice.”
Mandela’s words—as eloquent as they may have been—did little to help. He was sentenced to life in prison.
7. Standing up for one's convictions, regardless of the cost.
A skilled lawyer, Mandela could have easily resorted to legal loopholes and other trickery in order to help his case during what came to be known as the Rivonia Trial. Instead, he was honest in his admissions and steadfast in his convictions. Mandela didn’t shy away from the wrongs that he had committed, but was firm in his belief that his actions were justified in the fight for equal rights.
In his opening statement, Mandela explained to the court exactly what it was that he was fighting for, including a living wage for all Africans, land ownership rights, the decimation of the national curfew, and an equal place in society. “During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people,” Mandela concluded. “I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”
6. Remaining steadfast in one's political commitment, even in confinement.
Though he managed to escape a death sentence during the Rivonia Trial, Mandela’s life sentence took him to Robben Island Prison—a former leper colony—for the first 18 years of the 27 years he served. His skin color dictated that he would be treated more harshly than many of his fellow inmates; he had no bed in his tiny cell, nor was there any plumbing. His wife, Winnie, was allowed to visit only twice per year. Whereas such atrocities might break another man, Mandela persevered: he earned a law degree from the University of London and helped educate other inmates on resolving conflicts with nonviolent methods. He managed to write and smuggle out a draft of his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, which was published five years after his release. He continued writing political statements that helped him maintain his position as a leader in the fight against apartheid—even if only symbolically.
In 1980, Oliver Tambo succeeded in putting additional pressure on the South African government with his “Free Nelson Mandela” campaign, which brought international attention to his old friend’s plight and the institutional racism that existed in South Africa. The spotlight proved to be too much for the government, which eventually offered Mandela his freedom if he’d agree to a series of political compromises, including renouncing any violent political actions. Mandela declined. In 1982, he was moved to a mainland prison and then a minimum security correctional facility in 1988. On February 11, 1990, newly elected president F.W. de Klerk announced his vision for a South Africa without apartheid, and ordered that Mandela be released from prison.
5. Not allowing the past to remain in the past.
Upon his release from prison, Mandela immediately went to work to ensure that no political activists would suffer the same fate as he had. Mandela, representing the ANC, worked together with the National Party to bring about an end to apartheid once and for all—an achievement that earned Mandela and de Klerk the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
On April 26, 1994, more than 20 million South African citizens showed up to take part in the country’s first-ever multiracial elections, and voted in the ANC as the governing body. On May 10, Mandela became the country’s first black president. Among the first tasks on his agenda? Establishing a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, who were tasked with investigating the many political and human rights violations that occurred in the country beginning in 1960.
4. Creating a true multiracial "Government of National Unity."
For Mandela, creating a genuinely multiracial government was important—not just for fulfilling the promise of political emancipation he had made in his inauguration speech, but in an effort to ease the fears of the country’s white population, who were witnessing a black majority rule for the first time in their lives.
And so Mandela and his colleagues spent two years drafting a new South African Constitution, which guaranteed unqualified citizenship rights to all South Africans.
“The apartheid regime had put law and order in disrepute,” Mandela wrote of the Constitution in his autobiography. “Because of this crude practice, and out of my own convictions, I exploited every opportunity to promote respect for law and order and for the judiciary.”
3. Fostering a global message.
The true mark of any great politician is inspiring change on a global level. Even after stepping down as President in 1999, Mandela continued to spread his message of equality around the world, including serving as a mediator between Great Britain and Libya during The Lockerbie Case. Mandela was celebrated around the world for the strides he made toward racial equality, at home and abroad, which earned him more than 250 international honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George W. Bush in 2002.
2. Remaining an indelible force—even in retirement.
Though he officially relinquished the role of President for a quieter life in 1999, Mandela kept up an active schedule of meetings, appearances and consultations. In 2004, at the age of 85, he announced that he was truly retiring, telling the press, “Don’t call me, I will call you.”
Yet Mandela’s voice could still be heard in the work being done by the organizations that he reorganized and founded. The Nelson Mandela Foundation continues to work tirelessly to uphold the values that Mandela promoted through strategic partnerships, educational opportunities, and the promotion of social justice in every corner of the world. Helping to solve the HIV/AIDS crisis, improving healthcare, developing rural and underutilized land and fight poverty are among the many other causes that Mandela’s name and work will continue to go a long way toward assisting.
1. Maintaining dignity above all else.
Though the dismantling of apartheid in South Africa may be Mandela’s greatest legacy, one of his most important contributions was the dignity he maintained throughout his life—and his many political ordeals.
Following Mandela’s passing on December 5th, at the age of 95, it’s important to remember that his fight for equality was not easily won. And it’s a battle that forced him to live more than a quarter of his life in confinement. Yet Mandela never let his personal challenges—be it a divorce, health crisis, or scuffle with the law—adulterate his vision of equality. Whereas lesser, more impressionable men may have let the atrocities of a life spent in prison paint the path of their future, Mandela always put the good of the people before his personal comfort. And did it with strength, conviction, an unwavering moral compass, and great dignity.
