At the pantomime
rehearsals, children of different skin tones sat together in the green room
waiting for their cue to go onstage.
Rishima said, “Do
you know that Nelson Mandela died yesterday?”
Her friend nudged her
“Please tell me more about him.”
Rishima turned to
me, “Can you tell her who he was?”
Nelson Mandela was
known by many names in his lifetime.
Do you know that he
was not named Nelson by his parents?
In his autobiography, he writes, “No one in my family ever
attended school. On the first day of school, my teacher, Miss Mdingane, gave
each of us an English name. This was the custom among Africans in those days
and was undoubtedly due to the British bias of our education. That day, Miss
Mdingane told me that my new name was Nelson. Why this particular name, I have
no idea.”
At birth he was given the name Rolihlahla, which means "troublemaker".
Later he became known by his clan name, Madiba.
He was also nicknamed Black Pimpernel because of his
ability to trick the police by using disguises.
Born into the Thembu royal family, he was a prince. The events that shaped his life made him a leader and he led the South African anti-apartheid movement. He was imprisoned for many years. In 1994, he became the first black president of South Africa and served until 1999.
He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
Mandela had a dramatic personal and political life.
In South Africa many people call him “Tata” which means
father as he is also known as "the father of the nation".