Mandela Celebrates his 92!

This is a story I shared with the class as part of our 'international news' portion of class participation. On Sunday, July 18th, Nelson Mandela quietly celebrated his 92nd birthday surrounded by family in Johannesburg. Mandela, who is easily one of the most recognizable figures of the twentieth century, and the South African people and world leaders have agreed to devote 67 minutes of their day to community service, one minute for each year Mandela has devoted to South African politics. Last year, the world agreed to make July 18 International Nelson Mandela day, for his contribution to politics and human rights, not to mention helping to break Apartheid. Becoming president in 1994, after serving 27 years in prison, Mandela and the world shared a touching moment when Mandela gathered black popular support for the South African rugby team, the Springboks, of which only one team member was not white. This helped bring about South African unity after the country had been torn by Apartheid for 46 years. The Springboks went on to win the Rugby World Cup that year, upsetting the favored New Zealand All Blacks, and uniting the country. In the United States, President Barak Obama gave tribute to South Africa's first black president, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton voiced her opinion that no one is more deserving of this formerly unheard of international recognition. Current South African President Jacob Zuma honored Mandela by sacrificing an ox in his name. This article is amazing because it shows the unity that globalization has forced into our lives. The fact that there is an international day to honor one former president of a country, no matter how amazing his feat or story is unprecedented. Also, the World Cup was just held in South Africa and that must have done wonders for the South African economy, a country in desperate shape of jobs and tourist dollars. After retiring from politics in 2004, Mandela has made very few public appearances, and his health has become increasingly more frail. It will be a sad day when Nelson Mandela passes on and I can only hope that what he has done for South Africa and this world will not be lost on future generations.