A Long Walk to Freedom

A brief summary about A Stride Toward Freedom: It gives a timeline of events ranging from Dr. King’s arrival to Montgomery, a journey that covers the bus boycotts through December 1, 1955 – December 21, 1956 of the South and then concludes with asking the important question located in the last chapter, “Where Do We Go From Here?” It focuses on MLK’s perspective of the people, events, and bus boycott procedures. A Stride Toward Freedom touches on not only a huge part of African American/Negro history but also American history with one of the first applications of nonviolent successful protest

In the 1930’s it was rare for a black South African to attend college. But Mandela not only attended, he graduated, got a degree from law school, and set up a practice in Johannesburg which he hoped could support his small family. Yet apartheid was always a humiliation to him. When the Afrikaner, or Dutch South African, Nationalists came to power in the 1948 election, the segregation habits of the past three hundred years became law. Hoping for a brighter future, Mandela joined the African National Congress (ANC) and became its first Youth Leader.

He wants his readers to imagine the pain and humiliation of the ill treatment that African Americans endure on a daily basis. King writes of vicious mobs lynching people’s mothers and fathers, policemen killing people’s brothers and sisters, a man and his wife not receiving the proper respect they deserve because of their skin color, and the notion that African Americans feel insignificant within their communities; this is why these peaceful demonstrators of whom the clergymen attack “find it difficult to wait” (King, 20). However, King believes that soon, injustice will be exposed, like “a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up” (King, 30). This vivid description helps arouse an emotional response, driving shame into the hearts of his white readers.

In the blacks’ case, each tribe or village has been given a separate “homeland,” or designated place to live, where they would be “a small community of men, women, and children, self-assured and confident” (Achebe, 159). Unfortunately, just as the blacks misinterpreted the Christians’ intentions in Things Fall Apart, the blacks of South Africa have interpreted Mr. Verwoerd’s intentions differently, and think he is out to hurt them. This misunderstanding has led to a boycott of the homelands, and greater tension between whites and blacks in South Africa. As the blacks have now started to rebel against the government, and create “toyi-toyis,” it is said that Verwoerd is beginning to get frightened. The militant blacks carry AK-47s and machetes at their side. These so-called peaceful people have unwillingly become his own worst enemy, and are “honest in nothing / but in [their] clothes” (Measure, 5.1.300-301). Because of one misunderstanding, the blacks have become unreliable, just as the Duke in “Measure for Measure.” It is sad to think that one man’s caring wishes have brought out violent qualities in the worst of ways. Horrific things have happened. There have been reports of people gathering in the streets in mobs, and resisting any form of peaceful negotiation that the troops try to offer every day. It sadly, troops have had to resort to tear gas and weapons in self-defense. The blacks, however, are no longer rebelling; they are ready to fight a war. It seems

“To deny people their right to human rights is to challenge their very humanity. To impose on them a wretched life of hunger and deprivation is to dehumanize them. But such has been the terrible fate of all black persons in our country under the system of apartheid (“In Nelson Mandela’s own words”). Nelson Mandela was a moral compass symbolizing the struggle against racial oppression. Nelson Mandela emerged from prison after twenty-seven years to lead his country to justice. For twenty-seven years he sat in a cell because he believed in a country without apartheid, a country with freedom and human rights. He fought for a country where all people were equal, treated with respect and given equal opportunity. Nelson Mandela looms large in the

It is important, notwithstanding, that Litwack's portrayal of African American sentiment at a specific point is based to a great extent on his source selection. He relies on dark voices that are almost regardless requesting, uncompromising, and frequently simply furious. (Blacks expressing their desire to kill whites is basically a theme of the book.) These views represent an imperative and sometimes undervalued slice of African American thought, one that Litwack unmistakably admires for its insight into the pervasive injustices confronted by blacks and its capacity to capably catch dark frustration with these

Europeans feared and discriminate Africans but that didn’t stop them from selling them and making them work in plantation for a certain period of time. In addition, white blames the African for things they did not do – ““the living image of primitive aggressions which they said was the Negro but was really their own” (50). This statement proved that white colonizers get away with things by blaming the blacks, insisting that blacks are going to gore the life of them and denying the fact, blacks to be their own.

Yet he knows, too, that merely preaching of goodwill towards Africans would not turn any heads. He must show directly the irony that those naming others "barbarians" were the barbaric ones themselves. His intensely personal story, with detailed descriptions of what he saw - cruel or ordinary - and of how one African dealt with forced encounters with different lands and cultures, was what it would take for Englishmen to relate and thus to understand.

These huge happenings both removed the global communist threat and freed people from injustices, which created an illusion that the entire world was listening in on South Africa, expecting a revolutionary change. From the very beginning protesters, especially Nelson Mandela himself, were influenced by Gandhi and his Satyagraha campaign in India as it was in several ways a similar fight. They both took place in countries that had been colonised by Great Britain, they both fought against the discrimination and oppression of the population and were both led by world-renowned leaders that shared fundamental ideas of unity and compassion. However, Gandhi’s philosophy wasn’t something Mandela followed meticulously. One of the major differences between their methods of ruling is that Mandela used violence at times, as it came to a point where he saw it as a necessity. It is important to note that without Gandhi’s fight in India, the protesters in South Africa may never have had motivation enough to see the potential they held, and what a difference they could make by

Specific Purpose: To inform my communication studies 192 with a general understanding of the life and outstanding impact that Nelson Mandela has left on the world.

The life story of Nelson Mandela has long become a legend, a story that transcends race, borders, culture, or language. He is one of the greatest leaders to ever step foot on this Earth. He was willing to give up his own personal freedoms for the good of his people. Still, his decisions at major points in his lifetime hold lessons for individuals who are inspired of becoming good leaders. Many leaders are inspired by the actions and decision-makings abilities of Mandela. He kept the interest of others before his own. This is what made Nelson Mandela a great leader, and worthy of winning a Nobel Prize. From the decisions he made, and his life experiences while fighting for human rights, one can conclude that Mandela is truly

It is this dignity that many African people's all but lost in the colonial period...The writer's duty is to help them regain it by showing them in human terms what happened to them, what they lost." (Achebe/Killam Eds. Pg. 159.)

Nelson Mandela was an exceptional leader, as President he took South Africa to somewhere it had never been. He valued his time as President, because he knew his time was limited; often working days without a break. Each step of the way he took risks for the good of the people. When told he was ‘risking his political capital and his future as a leader’, he replied, “The day I am afraid to do that is the day I am no longer fit to lead.”

Nelson Mandela in his book, Long Walk to Freedom argues through the first five parts that a black individual must deal, coop, and grow through a society that is hindering their lives' with apartheid and suppression of their rightful land. Rolihlanla Mphakanyiswa or clan name, Madiba was born on July 18, 1918 in a simple village of Mvezo, which was not accustomed to the happenings of South Africa as a whole. His father was an respected man who led a good life, but lost it because of a dispute with the magistrate. While, his mother was a hard-working woman full of daily choirs. His childhood was full of playing games with fellow children and having fun. In school, Mandela was given his English name of Nelson. After his father's death, he

I have always thought that Nelson Mandela has been one of the most important people in history. I find it very fascinating that one man could end the Apartheid and that is why I want to find out more about this. South Africa is a country with a past of enforced racism and separation of its multi-racial community. The White Europeans invaded South Africa and started a political system known as 'Apartheid' (meaning 'apartness'). This system severely restricted the rights and lifestyle of the non-White inhabitants of the country forcing them to live separately from the White Europeans. I have chosen to investigate how the Apartheid affected people’s lives, and also how and why the Apartheid system rose and fell in South Africa.