Nelson Mandela
Ubuntu
24 x 30 inches • oil on wood panel • artist Steve Simon
Biography
About the Painting
Selected Quote
Overview
Nelson Mandela was born in 1918 into the Madiba clan of the Thembu people in the village of Mvezo, South Africa. Mandela committed himself to overthrowing the South African system of racial privilege known as apartheid. Initially, his protests were non-violent, but he became increasingly militant in his efforts. He was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment. After 27 years, he was released from prison as international pressure grew against apartheid. Astonishingly, four years later, Mandela and President F.W. de Clerk negotiated an end to apartheid and Mandela was elected president. A new constitution was framed as Mandela focused on reconciling the historic animosity of racial strife. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
The Troublemaker
Nelson Mandela Biography
Rolihlahla Mandela was born on July 18, 1918 into the Madiba clan of the Thembu people in the rural village of Mvezo, South Africa. The first in his family to receive a formal education, Mandela attended a Methodist school where his teacher gave him the forename Nelson. Mandela was a bright student. He went on to attend a prestigious Methodist boarding school before attending college at Healdtown and later the University of Fort Hare, an elite black school.
In his middle twenties, Mandela became increasingly engaged in political activism, especially within African National Congress (ANC) circles. Founded in 1912, the ANC fought for the rights of black South Africans.
In the 1948 national election, the openly racist National Party gained power. Based on baasskap (white supremacy), the National Party expanded racial segregation under the system of apartheid (apartness).
Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s nonviolent resistance in defense of Indians in South Africa, Mandela and other ANC members began supporting similar passive resistance campaigns. Mandela quickly became a well-known figure in the defiance of apartheid. Over the next decade, as the ANC continued the nonviolent resistance efforts, the government rebuffed the movement time and again with banning orders, arrests, and excessive force that became increasingly deadly. In response to the asymmetric response, Mandela co-founded a militant wing of the ANC called Umkhonto we Sizwe, or Spear of the Nation. In December 1961, the “Spear” unleashed a wave of sabotage bombings. The following year Mandela was arrested. Eventually, he and seven other men were found guilty of sabotage and conspiracy to violently overthrow the government.
Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s nonviolent resistance in defense of Indians in South Africa, Mandela and other ANC members began supporting similar passive resistance campaigns.
The prosecution had sought the death sentence, but Mandela was instead sentenced to life in prison. He would spend the next 27 years incarcerated. Undeterred, Mandela remained resolute in the cause. While in prison he worked on completing his law degree, studied the Afrikaans language, and became an inspiring presence to the other prisoners. Over time, international condemnation of apartheid grew and Mandela’s imprisonment became a symbol of unjust white supremacy. In response, the South African government on two occasions offered to release Mandela based on certain conditions. Mandela, ever true to principle, would not accept anything but unconditional freedom and remained in prison.
Finally, on February 11, 1990, President F.W. de Klerk set Mandela free, without condition, before a huge crowd of supporters. The nationwide violence that had marked the decades-long struggle against apartheid, however, continued. Amidst the strife, Mandela assumed leadership of the ANC and worked with de Klerk to end apartheid in a harmonious way. For their efforts, Mandela and de Klerk were both awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. That year a South African Interim Constitution was agreed upon and scheduled to take effect on April 27, 1994. This would be the date South Africa would hold its first non-racial, democratic general election. The ANC was swept into power in parliament and Mandela became president.
With Mandela as president, South Africa framed a new constitution emphasizing equality, created a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in an effort to justly heal the nation’s deep wounds, and instituted economic reforms. Declining a second term, Mandela retired in 1999. That year he established the Nelson Mandela Foundation with the mission of freedom and equality for all.
Following a lung infection, Nelson Mandela died on December 5, 2013 at the age of 95. President Jacob Zuma proclaimed ten days of national mourning. Officials representing 91 countries attended memorial events held in Johannesburg and Pretoria before a traditional funeral and burial at the Mandela ancestral home in Qunu.
Nelson Mandela, sculpted by Ian Walters, Parliament Square, London, England
Photo credit: Prioryman
About the Painting
Mandela’s forename at birth was Rolihlahla, which translates literally as “shaking the tree branch.” Figuratively the phrase is applied to someone who is a troublemaker. In this allegorical painting, Nelson Mandela has been cast in the role of a sculptor with an activist bent. Wearing one of his Madiba shirts and striking his infectious smile, the great revolutionary and political leader is at work sculpting a piece of wood, perhaps from one of those shaken trees.
Mandela has carved the word “ubuntu” into the base of the sculpture. Prevalent in sub-Saharan countries of Africa, the word refers to the philosophical belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity. From the base, grows a king protea, South Africa’s national flower. Fittingly, the flower is symbolic of courage, diversity, and transformation. As the protea opens, the continent of Africa rises up. On the face of the continent are a black hand and a white hand intertwined in the ubuntu spirit of the oneness of humanity.
A ghosted image of the Cape Town City Hall provides the backdrop as fists rise to the chant of Amandla Awethu, or Power To Us. It was from the building’s balcony that Mandela delivered his first speech after being released from 27 years in prison. He also spoke from this balcony on his inauguration day, after being sworn in as President of South Africa.
Selected Nelson Mandela Quote
“No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion…and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”
