Personal Reflection: Through The Eyes Of Mandela

Through the Eyes of Mandela Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate,

I am the captain of my soul. (Henley)

Throughout my twenty-seven year imprisonment, I would recite this poem (“Invictus”) to myself and draw inspiration from it in times when my future appeared very

I followed this principle during my tenure at the University of Fort Hare. I was a member of the Student Representative Council at the university, and the members of the council were dissatisfied with the lack of power given to the SRC. In response, many members, including myself, resigned from our positions because we felt we were not being respected. I was then expelled from the university until I decided to rejoin the SRC. Naturally, I returned to my home instead of school as there was no change in the opposing side’s stance. As a member of the Africa National Congress (ANC), I was a leading force during the anti-apartheid movement. South African blacks were attempting to gain respect from the white people and the ANC represented blacks in the fight to end apartheid. For twenty years I led a series of nonviolent acts of civil disobedience to combat the racist South African government, leading landmark events such as the 1952 Defiance Campaign as well as the 1955 Congress of the People (History.com). I also launched a campaign against the Pass Laws which required nonwhites to carry documents in “restricted” white areas, the ultimate form of disrespect (Britannica). I attempted to defend the rights of unrepresented blacks by starting a law firm with Oliver Tambo. Through all of these efforts I found that until black South Africans were

I felt that a truly just government is built upon compromise and negotiation. It was through compromise with South African President De Klerk that South Africa transitioned from a nation focused on apartheid to a shining beacon of hope in Africa (Champion). My strong desire for compromise led me to meet with ministers without even telling my colleagues. They were angry and unbending, and had I too been this way, the transition of South Africa would have been a violent and bloody one (Economist). I had a gift for conflict resolution that helped calm escalated tensions between whites and blacks over assassinations and other polarizing events. Ironically, many whites were willing to share power while many blacks wanted a complete transfer of it; I was able to pacify radical black aspirations with my negotiations (History.com). In addition to the Nobel Peace Prize that De Klerk and I were awarded, I also became the first black president of South Africa in 1994 because of my ability to compromise and negotiate (Champion). Negotiation was also a vital tool in my release from prison and subsequent action towards a better South Africa. In 1976 I was offered freedom if I recognized the sovereignty of an allocated territory for blacks, where I also, of course, was supposed to go and live myself; I refused the offer. (Britannica). In 1982 I was offered