... by Nelson Mandela. Published by Little Brown and Co., in 1994. If you were even the least bit aware of current events in the last half of the twentieth century, you know of Mandela and his efforts to force the end of apartheid (apartness) in South Africa. This southern-most nation on the African continent was once a colony of Great Britain, and more recently governed by the Dutch. Both European nations forced native people into submission, in situations almost as intolerable as early US history when humans were bought and sold.
Mandela was born into a royal family, and was groomed in his early years to become an advisor to a king. After his father died when he was young, he was taken under the wing of a local regent, who helped him gain an education, and learn the ways of the privileged class of natives. Mandela as a young adult chose to study law, as he felt education was his best opportunity for success. As he progressed through college classes and was exposed to history, current events, politics and lived in larger cities with students from other cultures he began to see the true situation and plight of the African people.
In protesting mistreatment and unfair circumstances imposed on natives as well as Indians, and all people of color in South Africa, he met other men who were opposed to the injustices forced upon the majority by minority whites. Mandela and many of his compatriots were jailed and spent years as political prisoners, continually demanding equal treatment and opposing unfair laws. He spent nearly three decades in prisons, before being freed. Over time he and his fellows were able to bring the government to the negotiating table and bring about laws that were more equitable and respectful of the people who once owned all the land before being subservient to white colonists.
It was a big thick book, took me weeks to read as I would put it aside for a few days before returning to pick up his story of early life, years as young adult fomenting rebellion, decades of forced labor on Robben Island. And finally the years of intricate negotiations with powerful political forces of the Dutch governing body. Well written, with the occasional word I had to make a note of to look up the definition, filled with interesting details about his youth as well as years of incarceration.
During his time on Robben Island, he had a small garden, gave much of the produce to his jailers, as well as supplying fellow prisoners with fresh fruits and vegetables. "In some ways, I saw the garden as a metaphor for certain aspects of my life. A leader must also tend his garden; he too, plants seeds, and then watches, cultivates and harvests the results. Like the gardener, a leader must take responsibility for what he cultivates; he must mind his work, try to repel enemies, preserve what can be preserved, and eliminate what cannot succeed." (page 426.)
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