“I cannot pinpoint a moment when I became politicized, when I knew that I would spend my life in the liberation struggle. To be an African in South Africa means that one is politicized from the moment of one's birth, whether one acknowledges it or not...His life is circumscribed by racist laws and regulations that cripple his growth, dim his potential, and stunt his life...I had no epiphany, no singular revelation, no moment of truth, but a steady accumulation of a thousand slights, a thousand indignities, a thousand unremembered moments, produced in me an anger, a rebelliousness, a desire to fight the system that imprisoned my people. There was no particular day on which I said, From henceforth I will devote myself to the liberation of my people; instead, I simply found myself doing so, and could not do otherwise.”

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About Nelson Mandela

South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician, and philanthropist

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician, and philanthropist. He served as president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, becoming the country’s first black head of state and the first chosen in a fully representative democratic election. His presidency focused on dismantling apartheid’s legacy, confronting institutionalised racism, and encouraging racial reconciliation. He was also an African nationalist and socialist, and served as president of the African National Congress from 1991 to 1997. In South Africa, he is widely respected and is often called Madiba, his Xhosa clan name, as well as the Father of the Nation.

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