Hero #7 of 30 – Nelson Mandela
Posted by Matt Langdon on November 7, 2007
In 1990 I was in Year 12 at Geelong High School. One of the books we were studying was No Easy Walk To Freedom, Nelson Mandela’s book on his struggle against apartheid. In February of that year (i.e. the first month of school) Mandela was released from prison after 27 years in an amazing coincidence. I somehow managed to get through the year without actually reading the book – teachers; they let you get away with anything. And yet, I feel cheated that my teacher didn’t use that event to inspire us to get excited about this story. In retrospect, of course.
Mandela’s story is truly inspiring. He stayed true to his values throughout the imprisonment and even refused to be released a few years earlier when Botha offered it to him as long as he renounced violent opposition to apartheid.
Read his profile in the Gallery of Heroes here.
Nerevised said
Hi, I just found your blog on NaBloPoMo randomiser. It is a great idea to have a hero a day, good theme. If I can give you a little feedback (please take it or leave it, no offence intended) I would like a little more personal information about why you chose the people you did. Reading about their lives is interesting, and it would also be good if you had a statement like “Nelson Mandela is my hero because…”
Unless you are just presenting a list of heroes of the world, rather than heroes of yours. In which case, please ignore previous paragraph.
Matt Langdon said
Thanks for the comment. I’m definitely aiming to present heroes to the world at large. Some of them are getting personal notes, but some are just people I’ve heard or read about.
Good luck with the Kiwi.