IRB Post #8- "A Long Walk to Freedom"-Nelson Mandela

For my IRB/TOW post for this week, I finished the book "A Long Walk to Freedom", by Nelson Mandela. Mandela officiates the divorce with his wife, Winnie. Also, tensions in South Africa were peaking, people were desperate for their freedom and tired of waiting. They were tired of talks and negotiations and wanted to take their freedom by force through weapons. Several Mass shootings were occurring, spreading fear and horror. A colleague of Mandela's, Chris Hani, was assassinated. Hani was well-known as a figure in the ANC, and many feared that his assassination would set off a racial war. Manela's close friend Oliver also died, which was a significant blow on Mandela's personal life. Mandela won the 1993 Nobel Peace Price jointly with Mr. de Klerk. On April 27, 1994, for the first time, black people would be allowed to vote for their leaders. The ANC got 62.6% of the majority vote, which allowed them 252 of the 400 seats in the national assembly. On May 10, Mr. de Klerk became second deputy president and Thabo Mbeki became the first. Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as the President of South Africa. Mandela concludes by explaining why he took up this journey to freedom, saying "Freedom is indivisible; the chains on any one of my people were the chains on all of them, the chains on all of my people were the chains on me"(Mandela 624). Mandela finishes by saying that while they have taken large steps toward freedom, the fight is long from over. Mandela did an incredible job in writing this autobiography, and while it was long, it was interesting and brilliant description of a long journey and the fight for freedom and justice. The messages Mandela spreads throughout this book are very inspiring, and encourage people not to lose hope and to always stand for what it right.