Madiba passing

So Nelson Mandela passed away a few nights back, and funny enough, I first found out from an American friend who posted an article on Facebook. 

I knew this was coming; he has been in poor health for months.  When the world prepared for his death months back, I was actually quite nervous.  There is this insane rumor that upon his passing, black South Africans would upraise and murder everyone.  The township would be off limits for me, and I should have an evacuation plan.  US army troops were even here at one point to help with crowd control.  Months passed, the media stopped 24/7 Madiba coverage, and it sort of slipped my mind.

So the morning after he left this world, every station had something to add to the conversation.  Every Facebook post was some quote of Madiba’s, and twitter trended #RIPMandela.  The world is watching South Africa, and it was quite neat to see the support that this world showed.  And let me tell you what they saw: There are no riot in the streets; no necklaces of burning tires; no slaughtering of machetes.  There are celebrations!  People breaking out in song on my morning run, and people greeting me with a handshake in the que at the post office.  It really has got me thinking, these people know how to mourn!  Why cry when we can dance?  The world lost an incredible person this week, and what these people are doing is remembering his vision.  Maybe this newfound vitalization is what SA needs?  I went to a rugby tournament this weekend, thousands rowdy fans packed the stands, and when the minute of silence came to show love for the fallen Nelson Mandela, it was eerily silent.  I couldn’t believe it.  Not a peep for a solid minute.  I don’t even have that patience when I’m sitting alone, let alone 1000’s of people, all who have had several beers.

Yesterday I was at a braai with a crowd of Afrikaans speaking, educated white men with little-to-no respect for the current ANC administration.  Lots of brandy got them speaking about Mandela in a way I was very surprised to hear.  No racial condemnation!  Twenty seven years spent in the worst of conditions, and Madiba came out able to forgive.  One of the men, who fully admits that he is a white supremacist, stated that Mandela didn’t liberate the black man, rather he freed the white man from the system that they created.  MIND BLOWN.  It’s unfortunate that the world has lost such a good, good man, but look at the dinner table conversations that are being had all over the world in his memory!  I hope that they continue.

Before his passing, I was forever hearing “they say….this, and I’ve heard ….that,” we should live our lives avoiding the challenges that “the other” presents.  If we listen to the fears that people put on us, I would be living in a shell in granny’s basement for the rest of my life.  Call me naïve if you will, but I think that people are innately good; maybe they just need a chance to prove it. 

Fun fact: Inspirational Mandela quotes is trending on Google. lololololol  Here is my favorite:"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."  Let’s conquer this irrational fear, world!

I am alive and safe.  Nobody has murdered me yet, despite all of the loving messages I have received suggesting that I stay bogged down till his death “blows over.”  Rather, let’s not let it blow over.   South Africa is a beautiful place, full of beautiful people, but at risk of sounding trite, we do have a long walk to freedom ahead of us.  Let’s dance it, not walk it.