Each year in July people come together to make change for
Nelson Mandela Day, but Mandela’s powerful life affects people every day,
especially in his home of South Africa. Now that Mandela has passed at the age
of 95, a world mourns.
In honor of this great man, MTV Act has also put together a
list of five amazing feats he accomplished in his lifetime.
+ President of South Africa
In 1994, Mandela was South Africa’s first democratically
elected President. This was a triumph for democracy, and also a triumph for
equality. Though the majority of the citizens of South Africa are black,
Mandela had grown up in a country full of racial tension, and one in which
black people were denied basic rights.
+ Working Against Apartheid
From the 1940s to the 1990s, South Africa lived under the
apartheid regime, which meant that people were racially segregated. Black
people were not allowed to vote and were denied many of the rights given to
white people. Mandela was a strong anti-apartheid activist. The apartheid
government did not tolerate opposition, and his activism caused him to be
imprisoned for 27 years.
+ Nobel Peace Prize
Because of his nonviolent work to end the apartheid regime,
Mandela was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. Receiving the prize, he
said, “This must be a world of democracy and respect for human rights, a world
freed from the horrors of poverty, hunger, deprivation and ignorance, relieved
of the threat and the scourge of civil wars and external aggression and
unburdened of the great tragedy of millions forced to become refugees.”
+ Creating Impactful Orgs
In 1995, then-President Mandela opened the Nelson Mandela
Children’s Fund to help protect and empower children. Then, after retiring as
president in 1999, he founded theNelson Mandela Foundation to continue its work
to better the world. It also got behind Mandela Day!
+ Being an HIV/AIDS Activist
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