Where's Mandela?

"I heard somebody say, Where's Mandela?' Well, Mandela's dead because Saddam Hussein killed all the Mandela’s," – Bush

Those were the exact words Bush used when speaking at a press conference; his intent was to explain the sectarian strife in Iraq and defend his administration's Iraq policy. Sometimes I wonder if Bush thinks before opening his mouth to speak, Nelson Mandela is still very much alive!

When I read this I remembered an episode of America’s Next Top Model (Yes, I watch that show from time to time … don’t judge). The girls were taken to see Nelson Mandela's cell. Keenyah, who feels a “stronger” connection because she is black, cries when hearing of Mandela's ordeal for democracy. Before that she knew nothing about Mandela, still, she manages to talk about how great Mandela is. Then she turns and asks one of the girls if he is still alive.

Like I said before, he IS alive. Mandela is eighty-nine; he retired from public life in June 1999 and currently lives in his birth place Qunu, Transkei. He was jailed for 27 years for fighting white minority rule, and in 1994 Mandela became South Africa's first black president. He won a Nobel Peace Prize for preaching racial harmony and guiding the nation peacefully into the post-apartheid era. Mandela accepted the Nobel Peace Prize as an honor to all people who worked for peace and stood against racism. It was as much an award to his person as it was for all South Africa s people.

“I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. 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,” Nelson Mandela