“The time for the healing of the wounds has come; the moment to build the chasms that divide us has come . . .” Nelson Mandela at his inauguration as president of South Africa, 1994
It was my plan to explore the pros and the cons of the plan to administer the HPV vaccine to girls 11-12 years early in 2014. However, my plans were diverted by the passing of one of the greatest human beings who ever lived.
First let me congratulate the Barbados Association of Reading on the occasion of its 7th annual conference which was recently convened at the Crane under the theme Literacy For All. In fact, I had just reached the venue when Starcom Network broke the news just before 6 p.m. It reminded me of the news of the passing of two other great men. I recall when John F. Kennedy was assassinated and even more etched in my mind is the demise of Dr Martin Luther King. On their passing, there seemed to have been a change in the atmosphere as a breeze of peace blew across the earth.
Nelson Mandela was one of the icons of my childhood. Long before there was social media, long before the world could have been described as a global village, long before a man of negro ancestry became the president of the United States of America, Nelson Mandela bestrode the world like a colossus. I used to follow his struggles in what was then a racist South Africa. The fact that 22 million blacks were suppressed and dominated by three million whites for so many years also concerned me as a boy growing up in rural Barbados. His imprisonment as well as his freedom and the journey from the cell to the presidency of the country that once incarcerated him is perhaps one of the greatest stories of the resilience that resides deep within the human spirit. It is perhaps the greatest demonstration of the extent to which you can imprison the physical man, you can torture the human body but you can never confine nor contain the infinite strength and character of the human spirit.
This larger than life global figure has left us many famous quotes that speak to the depth of his faith and deep-seated belief in the resilience of the human spirit. His amazing intellect as exemplified through his speeches and sayings is part of the legacy he has bequeathed to humanity. “I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one’s head pointed toward the sun, one’s feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.”
No one can speak to the issue of racism like Nelson Mandela can. It was he who reminded us that racism was not passed on genetically, but passed on through teachings. “No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” Who best can speak to issues of bravery, peace and the importance of education but Nelson Mandela? “If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner. 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.”
From the poorest of countries to the richest of nations, education is the key to moving forward in any society. “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
As I reflect on his life, I am reminded of a song we sing in our worship: “Every high thing must come down; every strong hold shall be broken. You wear the victor’s crown; you overcome.” There is sense in which the life and death of this great man; this icon encapsulates the triumph of the human spirit over adversity. While it may be felt that the world is made weaker by his passing, more triumphantly, the world was made better by his living.
Nelson Mandela, gone but his spirit lives on in each of us. Given the extent of his adversity and the tremendous captivity he endured but overcame, none of us will ever come near the kinds of struggles with which he grappled. Since he overcame and survived his, it becomes undoubtedly clear that ours are nothing in comparison with his. Obviously then, we can overcome too. He has certainly left the Mandela formula for the triumph of the human spirit.
As he said on the occasion of his 90th birthday (May 18): “What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived, it is what difference we have made to the lives of others that determines the life we lead.”
What a great life Nelson Mandela has led. I am glad to have lived in this era.
• Matthew Farley is a secondary school principal, chairman of the National Forum on Education and a social commentator. Email principal208@gmail.com