Nelson Mandela’s Autobiography, Essay Example

The book that is going to be discussed is the autobiography of Nelson Mandela. The book details the South African apartheid movement. Nelson Mandela provides details with regards to his childhood development, his conversion into a fighter for social justice and the period that he spent incarcerated. In addition, Nelson Mandela discusses his participation in the founding of a democratic government in South Africa. The Book was released in 1995. This was one year after Nelson Mandela’s election as the President of South Africa (Mandela, 2008).

Mandela starts the book with his heritage. In the book, Mandela details his childhood recreation of Xhosa wresting. Mandela excelled in his studies as a child. The academic excellence demonstrated by Nelson Mandela in school motivated his family to sponsor his continuing studies. After completing his studies, Mandela became an activist in the ANC(African National Congress). Mandela instituted some of the philosophies instructed by Mohandas K. Gandhi in the Defiance movement of 1951 (Mandela, 2008).

Mandela broke the apartheid laws and went to prison. Mandela encouraged the participants in the Defiance movement not to provide any resistance or violent behavior to the police authorities. The passive resistance that was demonstrated by Nelson Mandela and the members of the Defiance movement caused themovement to become the recipient of global attention and empathy. Mandela continued his work as an activist andassisted in the administration of the Congress for the People.In 1956, Nelson Mandela and scores of members of the Congress for the People were detained by the South African authorities on the suspicion of high treason against the government of South Africa.  Mandela was acquitted of all charges in this case (Mandela, 2008).

Subsequently, Mandela began to reason that passive resistance was no longer a practical solution. Mandela initiated a movement called Umkhonto we sizwe(National Spear) in order to accomplish the revolution that was required. Mandela was detained in 1961 by the police authorities of South Africa.   Mandela was accused of inciting insurrections and crossing national borders without a travel document. After these charges, Mandela was sentenced to life in jail. Mandela was released in 1990. The apartheid laws which Mandela protested against were overturned.

Conclusion

Nelson Mandela’s tenacity and courage led South Africans to a better life. Nelson Mandela is a global leader. His activism caused the overthrow of the apartheid system in South Africa.  Nelson Mandela services as a model of a social agent for change.

References

Mandela, N. (2008). Long walk to freedom: The autobiography of Nelson Mandela. New York: Little, Brown and Company, Hachette Book Group