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Nlson MAndela. Mandela's words, "The struggle is my life," are not to be
taken lightly. Nelson Mandela personifies struggle. He is ...
Mandela, Nelson Rolihlahla. Mandela was born ... in 1942. Mandela then studied
law at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. He ...
The Hardships of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. Running ... differences. Little did
Mandela know, but life, as he knew it, was about to change. ...
NELSON MANDELA. Nelson Mandela Nelson Mandela is an African American leader
who fought for the rights of his people. Through trials ...
Nelson Mandela. "There ... desires". These are the words of a man, Nelson Mandela,
who fought for something that many would shy away from. ...
Submitted by juz_6464 on February 5, 2007
Category: Biographies
Words: 884 | Pages: 4
Views: 179
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Mandela
Early on, that Nelson Mandela's political awareness began to take shape, and he steeled himself to resist such indoctrination while he immersed himself in the very real cultural practices of his own Xhosa people. He remembers the harsh rigors of his initiation, when he was prepared for the trials of manhood that lay ahead. He remembers emerging from his long seclusion, coated in red ochre, and receiving two cows and four sheep, which made him feel richer than he had ever felt before, and, as he put it, "walking
straighter and taller
.and thinking that he might someday have wealth, property, and status." He certainly was right about that, but a long road lay ahead.
The 1930's were troubled times in South Africa, when forced removals, pass laws and other segregation bills were passed. With growing unease, Mandela went to Fort Hare University to do a Bachelors degree, but it wasn't long before his strong will and indignation at injustice got in the way, and he was expelled in 1940 for leading a Student Representative Council strike with Oliver Tambo.
Already it was clear that nobody was going to tell this young man what to do, and when he discovered, on his return home, that his tribal chief and caretaker had decided it was time for him to marry a suitable girl, for whom labola (payment for marrying a girl of African decent) had already been paid, Nelson Mandela took the gap and ran away to Johannesburg.
Thus, at 22, he found himself working as a mine policeman, knopkiere and whistle in hand, at Johannesburg's Crown Mines. Contrary to his expectations of grandeur, the Mine offices were rusted tin shanties in an ugly, barren area, filled with the harsh noise of lift-shafts, power drills, and the distant rumble of dynamite. Everywhere he looked he saw tired-looking black men in dusty overalls.
The contrast from his peaceful rural life must have been a rude shock, and he rapidly learned the reality of the grinding...
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