Friday, August 31, 2007 at 11:26 AM
Mandela joins Lincoln, Disraeli and Churchill in Parliament Square
On Wednesday, a 9ft-high bronze statue of former South African President Nelson Mandela was unveiled in London’s Parliament Square – making him the first black man to join a pantheon of mostly-British statesmen memorialized at this historic site.
Though this statue is of one man, it should in actual fact symbolise all of those who have resisted oppression, especially in my country. [Nelson Mandela]
Of course, the occasion was replete with glowing tributes and accolades being heaped upon him by invited dignitaries. Yet Mandela unwittingly bested them all with this endearing reflection:
In 1962, when Oliver Tambo and I visited this place, we wondered if we would ever live to see the day when a black man would be honored here.
Well, the irony is lost on no one that it is a far greater honor for the British to have him grace this square than it is for Mandela to be honored there.
You’ve come a long way brother….Congratulations Madiba!
Meanwhile, considering how resolute former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was when she branded Mandela a terrorist during our struggle against apartheid, it behooves us to question leaders who brand others as such so resolutely today….
Related Article:
BBC profile of Nelson Mandela
NOTE: On 20 July I wrote what turned out to be a very controversial commentary entitled A wannabe gangsta…perhaps, but Premier Misick is no genocidal Mugabe. In it, I delineated the grave implications of assault and theft charges that were filed by an MP against the premier of my mother country, the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Well, on Tuesday, the British-appointed Attorney General issued his disposition of this case, and I am not pleased…at all. Click here to see why.
And he deserves to be there!
What a great man.