Free Nelson Mandela

That was the title of a song I first heard when I began working at Sam the Record Man in downtown London in 1984.  

It was recorded by a British band called The Special A.K.A. and it exposed me to the plight of Mr. Mandela who was in prison at that time.  I wasn’t exactly a student of world events so what was happening so far away, in South Africa, didn’t exactly make my dinner conversation topic list back then. But my Sam’s colleague Jonathan was (and likely still is) a musician’s musician who sought out all types of music, unlike me, who was raised on Top 40. Jonathan put Special A.K.A. on the turntable and my mind expanded. The song had African influences and was up and almost cheerful.  Its composer had only learned of Mandela’s plight a year earlier but the song became an anthem around the world and even went top 10 in England. So who was this Nelson Mandela and what was his story?

Now we all know.  And at the age of 95, Mandela died yesterday.  When he emerged from prison after 27 years, for the crime of fighting the evils of apartheid, he left any bitterness and hate behind him.  He served one term as President and then created a foundation through which he fought poverty and ignorance. He taught us that even when a great injustice has been done to us, anger and a revengeful heart only hurt us. Nothing I can say about Nelson Mandela could be as illuminating about the man himself as his own quotes.  Here are three of my favourites.

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do.

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.