OzVMX Forum
Clubroom => General Discussion => Topic started by: firko on December 06, 2013, 09:21:45 am
-
The great man has passed.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/nelson-mandela-dies-aged-95/story-e6frg6so-1226776675718 (http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/nelson-mandela-dies-aged-95/story-e6frg6so-1226776675718)
-
At least the man isn't suffering any more and he got to spend a few years free from the bastards that ruined his life. RIP Nelson Mandela
-
He was truly an inspiration to black a white in (south africa) and around the world
rip Madiba
-
I always felt that what he achieved in his lifetime was a great thing, but sometimes his methods were not..........
RIP
-
The amount of people in the world that have stood up to oppresive regimes especialy one as entrenched as Aparthiet and won.
RIP
-
Nobody stands as tall as this giant on the world stage for the last 'n' decades of history. Phenomenal man. What he overlooked to promote reconciliation in RSA was some indication of the measure of the man. Legend of legends.
-
The amount of people in the world that have stood up to oppresive regimes especialy one as entrenched as Aparthiet and won.
RIP
;) onya guys 8)
-
Just read this on RacerX, thought it was cool.
And then there was yesterday’s sad news that Nelson Mandela passed. He lived a life that saw him go from activist to prisoner, revolutionary to historic icon. The good news is that he was 95 years old, a long life for a man who spent twenty-seven years in prison fighting for respect and civility in South Africa, where apartheid laws made the existence of the great majority of the population cruel and difficult. There was a place in heaven waiting for Nelson Mandela.
I bring Mr. Mandela up because there is a motocross tie here: Back in 2004, when James Stewart was the dominant young rider in the 125 class as well as our sport’s first black rider to win races and championships, James received an invitation signed by Mandela himself to come and race at the FIM Motocross Grand Prix at Sun City, South Africa. The hope of the organizers was that the American superstar would become a role model for young South Africans. Due to the logistics and timing, Stewart could not go, but the engagement speaks volumes to one Mr. Mandela’s key beliefs:
“Sport has the power to change the world…it has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than government in breaking down racial barriers.”
-
“Sport has the power to change the world…it has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than government in breaking down racial barriers.”
Inspiring words.
-
A South African who played for the Springboks thought Mandela's embracing of Rugby as a sport that was so held so dear to the hearts of the white Afrikaan's population something that possibly stopped a civil war in South Africa. The symbolisim of Mandela giving the World Cup to Francois Peinaar won over a nation. Never ever talked about retribution or revenge either
(http://a.abcnews.com/images/International/GTY_nelson_mandela_rugby_nt_130628_16x9_992.jpg)
-
I truly believe Nelson Mandela to be probably the greatest man of the 20th century. His strength and beliefs and his ability to forgive those that persecuted him and his people are an example to all those with ambition to lead.
I had a dear friend who returned to SA before the referendum on giving the blacks the vote, She was a wealthy white South African who lived a life of privilege and had so much to lose if it went badly but I received a letter from her just before the vote wishing with all her heart that the vote went in favour of giving all South Africans a say in the forming of their Government, It was a truly inspiring and emotional thing to read.
I always shake my head in dismay that under both current definitions and at the time of his imprisonment he was considered a terrorist. In his book 'Long Walk To Freedom' he freely admits to planting bombs to blow up infrastructure and as an unintended consequence innocent people were killed, but he was on the right side of western 'history'.
Maybe those that lead Israel and Palestine can learn something!
Vale Madiba