Nelson Mandela- Long Walk to Freedom

Broadly, Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom can be divided into:

 Mandela’s Inauguration as President
 Mandela’s Speech
 Mandela about Apartheid
 Mandela about Other South African Patriots and their Courage
 Mandela about Love and Hate
 Mandela about a Man’s Twin Obligations
 Mandela’s Idea of Freedom

Mandela’s Inauguration as President

 It took place on 10th May, 1994 in the Union Building in Pretoria.
 It was attended by dignitaries from around the world.

 Mandela was accompanied by his daughter.

Mandela’s Speech
It marked the triumph of humanity, liberty and peace over oppression.
 Mandela brought out the irony that not long ago he was regarded as a criminal and
now he was hosting dignitaries from all over the world.
 He pledged to fight against poverty and discrimination.
 Mandela pledged never to let his nation be ruled by tyranny again.

Mandela about Apartheid

 Mandela’s inauguration marked the end of the one of most oppressive systems in
human history – apartheid.
 Apartheid is a system of racial discrimination where white-skinned people
dominate over the dark-skinned people of their land.
 Apartheid, Mandela notes, had caused immeasurable suffering for his people.

Mandela about Other South African Patriots and their Courage

 Apartheid also produced courageous men and women who had risked their lives to
fight oppression.
 It is through their sacrifice that Mandela understood the idea of courage.
 “…courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.”
 By calling himself the ‘sum of all African patriots’ before him, he paid his tribute
to the brave men and women who paved the way for Africa’s freedom.
 Mandela about Love and Hate
 Mandela believed that no one is born hating other human beings. Rather, they are
taught to hate.
 He believed in mankind’s boundless capacity for goodness and love.

Mandela about a Man’s Twin Obligations

 Mandela believed every man has two obligations – one to family and one to
country.
 In an unequal society, a man cannot fulfil both obligations. Every man must be free
to be able to do so.
 Mandela had to put his people’s needs above those of his family’s.

Mandela’s Idea of Freedom

 Mandela realised that his freedom was an illusion only on reaching adulthood.

 He further realised that other members of his community too were not free.
 One cannot truly enjoy freedom if one’s fellow men and women are in chains. This
realisation led Mandela to give up his own freedom and fight for the freedom of his
people.
 Mandela’s idea of freedom is all-inclusive. He believes that everyone must be free
– not just the oppressed, but also the oppressor who is imprisoned by hate.