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Intro
Nelson Mandela is born Rolihlahla Mandela into the Thembu royal family of the Xhosa people in South Africa, near the beginning of the twentieth century. His wealthy father loses much of his money in a dispute with a rival, and after his father’s death, Mandela goes to live under the guardianship of the Thembu regent Jongintaba. While in Jongintaba’s care, Mandela attends prestigious schools. Though he excels at academics, he is sometimes regarded as a bumpkin from the country. When Jongintaba tries to arrange a marriage for Mandela, Mandela runs away to Johannesburg, finding himself adrift with little idea what to do next.
Mandela eventually gets accredited as a lawyer and starts a law firm with Oliver Tambo. He meets his first wife, Evelyn Mase, and although they’re happy together at first, they start to grow apart and divorce. Not long after, he meets his second wife, Winnie, a social worker who will remain married to Mandela for the next several decades. Mandela becomes increasingly involved in work as an activist against apartheid, the White government policy of separating people by race and forcing non-White people to live in inferior conditions. Mandela gets involved with a political party known as the ANC and rises through the ranks. Although the ANC initially attempts to change South Africa through nonviolent techniques inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s work in India, eventually several ANC members conclude that it’s time to consider more aggressive actions in response to the government’s oppression. Mandela takes charge of forming and leading MK, a military arm of the ANC. Although Mandela considers the possibility of guerrilla warfare, he ultimately decides that sabotage of property is a more effective technique.
The actions of activists like Mandela cause the government to clamp down even more than before, calling a State of Emergency in order to have more power to follow and detain political prisoners. Mandela is subject to travel bans that stop him from using his car, and eventually, he is detained in prison. After getting out, Mandela goes underground, doing political organizing in secret because it is no longer legal to do so openly. Finally, Mandela is caught and put on trial with several of his allies.
Although Mandela defends himself well in court, he is ultimately declared guilty. He fears the death penalty but Judge de Wet gives him a life sentence instead. Mandela begins his life sentence at Robben Island prison, located off the coast of South Africa. Conditions there are difficult, particularly for Black prisoners, and Mandela has to work long hours in a lime quarry.
As time goes on in prison, Mandela tries not to lose hope, something that he is able to do because he believes he is fundamentally an optimist. He does what he can to organize with fellow activists in prison, like Walter Sisulu, trying hard to keep up with news of the outside world. Some warders at the prison seem intrigued by Mandela, while others are cruel and seem intent on breaking him down. While in prison, Mandela works on the first draft of a memoir, which will eventually become Long Walk to Freedom. He has a friend smuggle the manuscript out so that it isn’t discovered.
Mandela gets transferred to Pollsmoor prison, which has slightly better living conditions but leaves him even more isolated from his fellow activists. He continues to only be able to see his family on very rare occasions. Eventually, he is transferred to Victor Verster prison, where his accommodations are nicer, almost like a cottage, but the barbed wire fencing reminds him that he is confined.
As news of the horrors of apartheid spread, countries and international organizations put pressure on South Africa to abandon the apartheid system. Mandela starts going to meetings that include President de Klerk, who supports apartheid but believes that he has no choice but to release Mandela if he wants to hold on to power. In February 1990, Mandela finally walks free from prison. He doesn’t take much time to relax, traveling across Africa and the rest of the world before coming back to help organize South Africa’s first free democratic election where anyone can vote, regardless of race.
The time leading up the election is tense, with violence continuing across South Africa, even among groups that oppose apartheid. In the end, however, the ANC triumphs in the election, falling just short of being able to govern completely on its own, but still getting the largest share of the votes. Mandela becomes president and at his inauguration, people of all backgrounds and from all parts of the country come together to sing.
