News

Nelson Mandela’s 100th Birthday

Avatar photo

18 July 2018

By Kieran

Today marks what would have been the 100th birthday of South African revolutionary Nelson Mandela. And, unbeknownst to me, he did more for us than just leaving us with a funky tune by The Specials.

Mandela was famously imprisoned for 27 years before the public voted him President to end racism. It’s basically Donald Trump in reverse. He was the most famous prisoner in the world. In an unrelated remark, anyone else noticed how many letters are similar in the words ‘Mandela’ and ‘Melania’? Just a thought.

Mandela was arrested for inciting strikes in 1962 and served 18 years of his sentence at Robben Island. Which was clearly an administrative error as he had burgled no one. He should have been on Incitin island.

While in prison, Mandela was designated a Class D prisoner. This didn’t mean he was smoked by students and carried a low charge for possession. Rather, it meant he was only allowed one visitor and letter every 6 months. A bit like a UKIP councillor in 2018.

In 1994, four years after his release surprisingly enough, Mandela was overwhelmingly elected President. He won the popular vote by 60%, which in today’s world would mean that he lost due to his emails.

Later on, Mandela became known for hosting celebrities in South Africa. In one notable instance, he entertained Michael Jackson. A man who physically embodied everything Mandela had spent years fighting apartheid for. Not only could people of different races occupy the same schools, but also the same body.

South Africa commemorated the theoretical birthday of the great leader with celebrations at which Barack Obama gave a speech. Bizarrely, n a callout resembling absolute scenes, current SA President Cyril Ramaphosa attacked Obama’s dance moves.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-africa-44866969/mandela-or-obama-who-is-the-better-dancer

I’m not going to say that Obama’s not got moves. I’ve posted the above clip. I don’t need to. All I’m saying is that Mandela had a long time to himself to work on his cha cha cha. You can read about it in his book, The Long Road to Free Step.

 

Like this article? Please share!