Nelson Mandela International Day

By Tabitha Ervin
FWIS Editorial Director

Did you know that July 18 is Nelson Mandela International Day (or Mandela Day). This is an annual international day in honor of Nelson Mandela, celebrated each year on the 18th of July which was Mandela's birthday. The day was officially declared by the United Nations in November 2009, with the first UN Mandela Day held on July 18, 2010. However, other groups began celebrating Mandela Day on July 18 in 2009.

I have personally visited Africa three times myself and two of those, I was in South Africa. On one of my trips, I was able to visit Robben Island and see Nelson Mandela’s jail cell. Robben Island was a maximum-security facility off the coast of Cape Town, where Mandela was jailed from 1964 to 1982.

The cell was very small, an 8 by 7 foot concrete space where he spent 18 of his 27 years in jail at. The cell had minimal furnishings, including a straw mat for sleeping, a lidded metal bucket for a toilet, and a narrow bed. Prisoners were forced to do hard labor in a quarry, and Mandela was allowed one visitor a year for 30 minutes and one letter every six months initially.

The cell is currently set up to show visitors to the island what it looked like when Mandela was there. As with my entire experience in Africa visiting various historical places, the visit to Robben island was sombering as we toured the area and cells where prisoners were held.

Today, the village on Robben Island is home to about 150 permanent residents. They consist of museum staff, prison guides, National Ports Authority employees, lighthouse keepers, Works Department personnel and a couple of “locals” from the old days. It is a small and isolated community.

Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years primarily for his opposition to apartheid in South Africa. He was arrested for inciting strikes and illegally leaving the country, and later convicted of sabotage and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964. His activism and leadership within the African National Congress (ANC) against the apartheid regime led to his long incarceration.

Apartheid in South Africa officially began in 1948 with the National Party's election and their implementation of laws enforcing racial segregation and discrimination. However, the roots of apartheid can be traced back to the country's history of colonization and slavery, where white settlers systematically marginalized and exploited Black South Africans. This exploitation continued with the discovery of gold and diamonds, further solidifying the economic and political power of the white minority.

Mandela was released from prison in 1990 as apartheid began to crumble, and he later became South Africa's first Black president in 1994, playing a key role in the transition to a democratic nation.

Nelson Mandela is honored for his fight for peace, freedom, equality, and democracy, primarily against the system of apartheid in South Africa. He dedicated his life to dismantling this system of racial segregation and discrimination, ultimately leading South Africa towards a multiracial democracy.