Mandela was actually born Rolihlahla Dalibhunga. He was born into the Xhosa-speaking Thembu village in Transkei, South Africa on July 18, 1918. The Transkei was a Bantustan, which is an area set aside for members of a certain ethnicity. During South Africa's policy of "apartheid" and "separate development", Transkei was the first of four territories to be declared independent of South Africa (However, it reintegrated with South Africa in 1994 and became part of the Eastern Cape province).
He joined the African National Congress in 1943 (I'll save the research on the ANC for another post). In 1952, he opened South Africa's first black law firm with Oliver Tambo and campaigned against apartheid. When the ANC was outlawed in 1960, Mr. Mandela went underground. The Sharpville Massacre in 1960, where 69 black people were shot dead by police, marked the end of peaceful resistance and Mandela launched a campaign of economic resistance. In 1962, he was arrested and charged with sabotage and attempting to violently overthrow the government. Mandela conducted his own defense, using the stand to convey his beliefs about democracy, freedom and equality:
"I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."
In the winter of 1964, he was sentenced to life in prison. It wasn't until 1990 that Mandela was released, when international pressure against the apartheid regime finally forced President FW de Klerk to lift the ban on the ANC. In 1993, Mandela and de Klerk were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Five months later, Mandela was elected president by an overwhelming majority. It was the first time in South African History that all races voted in a democratic election. According to BBC, Mandela greatest challenge as president was the housing shortage for the poor, and the slum townships existing in the major cities. Mandela stepped down from his presidency in 1999.
Although Mr. Mandela said many great quotes, I particularly liked this one: "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."
Okay, now for the cheetah-related celebrity! I actually got to meet this person, which makes it even cooler. Cathryn Hilker is the founder of the Angel Fund, the Cincinnati Zoo's program to save captive and wild cheetahs. The program is named after Ms. Hilker's first cheetah Angel. Together, they worked for 12 years to educate the public about cheetahs. Angel touched as many as 1,000,000 lives while working with Ms. Hilker. The Angel Fund was established in 1992 in Angel's memory, and today it helps to lead the international effort to save the cheetah. The Angel Fund is also the inspiration and funding behind the zoo's off-site cheetah breeding facility at the Mast Farm. The following is a quote from the Angel Fund's website: "With the valued contribution, and the invaluable expertise, of the world’s most successful captive cheetah breeding program, De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Centre, and Cheetah Outreach, both in South Africa, the Cincinnati Zoo’s Cat Ambassador Program can tell the story of cheetahs and wild lands with the assistance of individual cheetahs who allow people into their presence so as to fully appreciate what it means to be the most threatened large cat in Africa, today."
Look at that! I've connected Cathryn Hilker to the Angel Fund to The De Wildt Cheetah Centre to South Africa to Nelson Mandela. WE ARE ALL CONNECTED. Thank you, Mufasa, for your wisdom.
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