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| US President Obama & Nelson Mandela at his back ground. Photo by: Eurweb Website |
This is the full text of US President Barrack Obama's statement at the White House on the death of South Africa's first black President Nelson Mandela on Thursday 5th December
2013 :
At his trial in 1964, Nelson Mandela closed his statement from the
dock saying, "I have fought against white domination and I have fought
against black domination. I've cherished the ideal of a democratic and
free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with
equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to
achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to
die." Nelson Mandela lived for that ideal and he made it real. He achieved more than could be expected of any man.
Today he's gone home and we've lost one of the most influential,
courageous and profoundly good human beings that any of us will share
time with on this Earth. He no longer belongs to us; he belongs to the
ages. Through his fierce dignity and unbending will to sacrifice his own
freedom for the freedom of others, Madiba transformed South Africa and
moved all of us. His journey from a prisoner to a president embodied the
promise that human beings and countries can change for the better.
His
commitment to transfer power and reconcile with those who jailed him
set an example that all humanity should aspire to, whether in the lives
of nations or in our own personal lives. And the fact that he did it all
with grace and good humor and an ability to acknowledge his own
imperfections, only makes the man that much more remarkable. As he once
said, "I'm not a saint unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps
on trying."
I am one of the countless millions who drew inspiration from Nelson
Mandela's life. My very first political action -- the first thing I ever
did that involved an issue or a policy or politics was a protest
against apartheid. I would study his words and his writings. The day he
was released from prison it gave me a sense of what human beings can do
when they're guided by their hopes and not by their fears.
And
like so many around the globe, I cannot fully imagine my own life
without the example that Nelson Mandela set. And so long as I live, I
will do what I can to learn from him.
To Graca Machel and his
family, Michelle and I extend our deepest sympathy and gratitude for
sharing this extraordinary man with us. His life's work meant long days
away from those who loved him most, and I only hope that the time spent
with him these last few weeks brought peace and comfort to his family.
To
the people of South Africa, we draw strength from the example of
renewal and reconciliation and resilience that you made real: a free
South Africa at peace with itself. That's an example to the world, and
that's Madiba's legacy to the nation that he loved.
We will not
likely see the likes of Nelson Mandela again, so it falls to us as best
we can to (forward) the example that he set -- to make decisions
guided not by hate but by love, never discount the difference that one
person can make, to strive for a future that is worthy of his sacrifice.
For
now, let us pause and give thanks for the fact that Nelson Mandela
lived, a man who took history in his hands and bent the arc of the moral
universe towards justice. May God bless his memory and keep him in
peace.
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