In our Icon Series, we give thanks to those whose lives have laid the foundation for our journey toward justice and equity. In this season of being focused on showing appreciation, the New Hampshire Center for Justice & Equity celebrates the extraordinary life of Nelson Mandela.
Nelson Mandela and Kweisi Mfume in 1994. Image credits: Maureen Keating.
About Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela was a freedom fighter, political leader, and global symbol of resilience whose lifelong struggle against apartheid reshaped the moral landscape of the 20th century. From his early activism with the African National Congress to his 27 years of incarceration and his historic presidency, Mandela championed equality, reconciliation, and human dignity. His leadership transformed South Africa’s path toward democracy and inspired movements for justice around the world.
Early Life and the Roots of Resistance
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, in the small village of Mvezo in South Africa’s Eastern Cape. The son of a Thembu chief, Mandela was raised in a traditional Xhosa community as part of the Madiba clan, where he learned about his ancestors’ resistance against colonial forces. While his father passed away when he was 12, the acting Regent adopted Mandela and raised him in the royal residence with the same status and responsibilities as his biological children.
Mandela was the first in his family to receive a formal education. After completing his Junior Certificate at Clarkebury Boarding Institute, he enrolled in the University of Fort Hare in 1939 to study Roman-Dutch law. At the time, this was the only Western-style university for Black people in South Africa. However, due to his involvement in a student protest, Mandela was expelled in 1940 without completing his degree.
As a consequence, Mandela faced an arranged marriage, which prompted him to run away to Johannesburg in 1941. There, he worked several jobs, completed his bachelor’s degree by correspondence, and went on to study law at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Mandela’s Rise in the Fight Against Apartheid
The move to Johannesburg heightened Mandela’s perception of racial segregation and oppression. He joined the anti-apartheid movement at the African National Congress (ANC) and founded the ANC’s Youth League in 1944, determined to launch a mass grassroots movement. This marked the beginning of Mandela’s lifelong fight for a free and democratic South Africa, guided by the principles of equality and human dignity.
Mandela’s activism intensified during the 1950s as the apartheid laws of the National Party deepened institutionalized racial segregation. Rising through the ranks of the ANC, he led nonviolent protests, boycotts, strikes, and civil disobedience through the organization’s Defiance Campaign. In 1952, he established South Africa’s first Black law practice, specializing in cases connected to apartheid legislation. The same year, the government restricted his freedom of speech and movement through a ban order.
Mandela was later involved in drafting the Freedom Charter, a document calling for nonracial social democracy in South Africa, but the government's crackdown on resistance continued. In 1956, he and more than 100 other people were arrested for their political activism and charged with treason, eventually being acquitted in 1961.
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Enduring Imprisonment and Upholding Resistance
The events of March 1960, when police opened fire on a group of peaceful demonstrators in Sharpeville, killing 69 people, marked a turning point in Mandela’s nonviolent activism. Soon after the massacre, the government declared the ANC an illegal organization, forcing the resistance to go underground and resort to guerrilla tactics to sabotage apartheid infrastructure.
To achieve this Mandela helped establish a military offshoot of the ANC in 1961 called Umkhonto we Sizwe, which translates to Spear of the Nation, also referred to as MK. The following year, he traveled illegally to garner support, money, and training from other African countries. Shortly after his return, Mandela was arrested and sentenced to five years in prison.
In 1963, while he was serving his sentence, several other members of the ANC were arrested, and the organization’s underground headquarters were raided. A new trial, which became known as the Rivonia Trial, sentenced Mandela and others to life imprisonment. His 1964 ‘Speech from the Dock’ gained international attention as he declared he was ready to die for a democratic and free society.
Mandela spent 27 years in prison, much of it on Robben Island, where he endured harsh conditions as a low-ranking prisoner and contracted tuberculosis. While incarcerated, he earned a Bachelor of Laws through the University of London’s correspondence program, and secretly wrote his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, published in 1994.
Freedom, Reconciliation, and Renewal in South Africa
Mandela was released from prison on February 11, 1990, emerging as a powerful symbol of resistance for rejecting several conditional offers of release. As the apartheid regime began to collapse under internal resistance and international pressure, he continued advocating for freedom and democracy. In 1991, he became the President of the ANC at the organization’s first conference since being banned in the 1960s.
In this role, Mandela led the negotiations with South African President de Klerk to end apartheid and hold the country’s first multiracial democratic elections, which earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. A year later, Mandela was elected South Africa’s first Black President and set out to heal and unify the nation.
Together with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, he established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate human rights violations during the apartheid and launched housing, education, and economic development initiatives to improve the living standards of South Africa’s Black population.
In 1995, Mandela’s support of the national rugby team - previously a symbol of apartheid - during the Rugby World Cup in South Africa became a pivotal moment in the reconciliation between Black and white people. The same year, he was awarded the Order of Merit by Queen Elizabeth II.
After leaving office in 1999, Mandela retired from active politics and devoted himself to humanitarian causes through the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, Nelson Mandela Foundation, and the Mandela Rhodes Foundation, focusing on education, HIV/AIDS awareness, and peacebuilding. In 2002, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush, and in 2009, the United Nations declared July 18th, his birthday, as Mandela Day.
A Global Legacy of Courage, Compassion, and Change
Nelson Mandela passed away on December 5, 2013, at the age of 95. His passing was mourned by millions across the world who saw in him the embodiment of courage, forgiveness, and hope. In 2024, 14 locations within South Africa connected to his life and the country’s struggle for liberation were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Mandela’s legacy continues through global movements for justice, peace, and human rights. His life reminds us that dignity, compassion, and empathy are essential tools for social transformation, and that freedom is incomplete without addressing poverty and inequality.
In honoring Nelson Mandela for NHCJE’s 2025 Icon Series, we celebrate a leader whose vision continues to guide the global pursuit of justice for us all.
Learn more about Nelson Mandela
https://www.nelsonmandela.org/biography - Nelsonmandela.org
https://www.biography.com/political-figures/nelson-mandela - Biography.com
https://libguides.nypl.org/NYPLMandelaDay/biography - New York Public Library
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1993/mandela/biographical/ - Nobel Prize
Call to Action
Following in the footsteps of the civil rights icons who came before us, New Hampshire is facing unprecedented challenges, and NHCJE is preparing to fight the ‘good fight’.
Will you help us continue their legacy by investing in our work this Giving Tuesday?