Nelson Mandela was one of the great leaders of our time. He spent 27 years of a life sentence in prison. he risked a death sentence to stand up for the abolishing of Aparteid separation of races in South Africa. He was fearless and tireless. Over the years of struggle for equality in South Africa, many people came to understand this struggle. Student organizations, the United Nations and many others came to see that a boycott of South Africa could be the bestway to encourage the South African government to acknowledge and give up the practices of Aparteid, which brought so much pain to so many. Finally, Mandela was released in 1990, a result of consistent pressure from the boycott/divestment movement. Later that year he became the first African president of the country. He pushed for reconciliation rather than vengence/punishment. Mandela was not alone in his oppositiion to Aparteid and his struggle for a different vision. He was the leader of the ANC (African National Congress) and worked with many others and was imprisoned with others. They educated the other prisoners on Robin Island. They educated the guards as well.
In June of 1990, 4 months after he was released from prison, he came to the U.S. and he spoke at the Oakland Coliseum. He acknowledged the part the boycott/divestment movement had played and to thank those who had participated in the many demonstrations to urge divestment by their colleges and universities, petitioned to remove South African businesses from the stock portfolios of the colleges, universities and corporations in this country.
He also spoke at the American Indian Music Festival, taking place at Jack London Square that day, a great surprise to all who attended that event. He acknowledged the participation of American Indians in the divestment movement and thanked them. He compared the African situation to the American situation and encouraged native people and their supporters to continue to stand strong. The speech at the Oakland Coliseum is widely distributed on the internet right now, but the appearance and 15 or so minutes speech at the music festival is not known by many. I happened to attend that event and I am so sorry that my tape recorder ran out of battery power before he surprised everyone with his visit and speech.