Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela
2/28/03
South African and Mandela’s history.
He’s from Transki, adopted, went to school at Clakeburry.
Lesotho was formerly Basutoland.
Protectorates are Lesotho, Swaziland, and Bechuanaland
On knowing who you lead:
“Without language, one cannot talk to people and understand them. One cannot share their hopes and aspirations, grasp their history, appreciate their poetry, or savor their songs.”
Books that that Mandela read while thinking about militancy:
Over China, Edgar Snow; On War, Karl von Clauwitz
On driving on:
“The human body has an enormous capacity for adjusting to trying circumstances. I found that one can bear the unbearable if one can keep one’s spirits strong when one’s body is being tested. Strong convictions are the secret of surviving deprivation; your spirit can be full even when you stomach is empty”
On leading:
“A leader must also tend hid garden: he, too, plants seeds, then watches, cultivates, and harvests the result. Like the gardener, a leader must take responsibility for what he cultivates, he must mind his work, try to repel enemies, and preserve what can be preserved and eliminated what cannot succeed”
This is taken to another step buy suggesting that this can relate to relationships.
On not knowing the future:
Mandela often finishes sessions by giving a fact: she lived at 806 Basutoland: then perceives the future…. “I had no idea how familiar this address would become” He does not take for granted what the future holds. We never really know where we will end up.
In closing:
“I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter. I have made missteps along the way. Bit I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me; to look back on the distance I have come. Bit I can rest only for a moment, for with freedom comes responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not yet ended.” – Nelson Mandela
My take:
An outstanding recount of a man that was completely dedicate to a cause. Willing to sacrifice his life and even more so, liberty he was afforded however oppressed that may have been.
As a young boy Mandela feels free, grows, and realizes he is oppressed. As he matures, he further realizes that his people are oppressed. He seeks his own freedom then yearns for the freedom of his people.
It is later on Rabben Island where he realizes he can also free the oppression.
