Courage Of Harriet Mandela

Before the 21st century, the only way for African Americans to survive was by having bravery. Harriet Tubman had this in the 19th century when she lead hundreds of slaves to freedom, Nelson Mandela showed bravery when he joined the African National Congress and fought for civil rights, and Daisy Bates had bravery when she fought the school board in order to give African American children better education. Harriet Tubman, Nelson Mandela, and Daisy Bates helped to enact change by risking their lives to fight for civil rights. Harriet Tubman jeopardized her life by helping slaves escape to the North. According to the Library of Congress, “There was a bounty offered for her capture because she was a fugitive slave herself, and she was breaking

Throughout his lifetime, Mandela had numerous arrests, including being “arrested in a countrywide police swoop on 5 December 1955”, being “charged with leaving the country without a permit and inciting workers to strike”, and being “charged under the Suppression of Communism Act for their part in the campaign and sentenced to nine months of hard labour, suspended for two years” (Nelson Mandela Foundation). All of the arrests were the result of him speaking out against discrimination and fighting for equal rights. While in court for one of his arrests, Mandela stated, “I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities” (Nelson Mandela Foundation). Rather than fighting only for civil rights, like most African American abolitionists, Mandela fought for the equality of all races, including Caucasian people. Similar to Harriet Tubman, Nelson Mandela had to put his cause before his family. In Mandela’s autobiography, he states “I did not in the beginning choose to place my people above my family, but in attempting to serve my people, I found that I was prevented from serving my obligations as a son, a brother, a father, and a husband” (StudySync). Nelson Mandela was so dedicated to fight for equal rights that he put his family second and wasn’t there for his family. One would think that going to jail as many times as Mandela

As president of the NAACP, she fought the school board in a legal battle to let African American children into the large, all-white high school, Central High (Daisy Bates). On multiple occasions, when arriving home, she would find “a rock [that had] shattered the picture window of [her house]” (Williams). White segregationists in Little Rock, Arkansas would frequently do this, aiming to threaten the lives of the people of the NAACP as well as the students that were integrating into Central High. Although her life was threatened, she did not stop fighting for integration and frequently comforted the nine students through the bullying they had to withstand (Daisy Bates). Through thick and thin, Daisy Bates never stopped fighting for what she believed in, even if it meant risking her life. These three abolitionists, Harriet Tubman, Nelson Mandela, and Daisy Bates, all put themselves in danger in order to bring freedom to African Americans. Harriet Tubman had a positive impact on a large number of slaves because she lead them away from slavery, Nelson Mandela spoke his mind without caring about the consequences, and Daisy Bates challenged white people of power in order to bring children of color the best education possible. Although the fight for equality is still going on to this day, these people have helped to persuade others who stand to the side to become involved and fight