Mourning Nelson Mandela

The prisoner-turned South African President, Nelson Mandela, passed away yesterday at the age of 95 leaving behind a legacy of courage and inspiration for generations to come.
The news is everywhere. No need to say much more, I guess, but below I've embedded a multiple choice doc to check one's knowledge on Mandela - and why not ask students to fill it in as a warm up for a lesson on Nelson Mandela, an icon of Freedom and also a Noble Peace Prize winner?

YOUNG MANDELA by David James Smith

After going to the movie for "Invictus", my postings and your precious comments, some re-reading of  "Long Walk to Freedom" (Mandela's autobiography first published in 1994, the year he became president), my expectations towards the newly-released biography were high. Indeed, "Young Mandela" contains explosive revelations on the committed freedom fighter who ruled South Africa and won a Nobel Peace Prize and is sparking controversy... controversy around Mandela's alleged infidelity, a disputed incident of spouse abuse and his emotional neglect of his wives and children...a lot, hem?

It was kind of surprising to me as I didn't imagine young Nelson Mandela as an unfaithful and violent man at home! Perhaps with his companions and in his political fight but with his own family??? He seems to be so kind, now, of course... his commitment to end racism in South Africa and prison have surely left their marks. Well, nevertheless, David James Smith - the journalist who wrote Mandela's biography - doesn't mean to destroy the reputation of South Africa's former president but to portray him more humanly. And he does manage that: heroic in the liberation struggle and in unifying a deeply divided nation, yet a human being, well aware of his flaws who has paid a heavy price for his achievements. Right now, Nelson Mandela is mourning another loss in his already long (life and) list of personal tragedies...the death of his thirteen year old great-granddaughter, Zenani.
For more, click on:
http://www.davidjamessmith.net/
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article7140034.ece ( 1st EXTRACT from the book)
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/book_extracts/article7144681.ece (2nd EXTRACT from the book)

INVICTUS

INVICTUS... is a Latin word that means "unconquered"; it is a short poem by British author William Ernest Henley
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ernest_Henley
(1849-1903) first published in 1875 that goes like this...

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.


In the fell clutch of Circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of Chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.


Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

INVICTUS was also chosen by Timothy McVeigh (the man who was convicted and sentenced to death for the lethal Oklahoma City Bombing of 1995) as his final statement... but why am I telling you this now???
Well, this is the title of the most recent film from Academy Award winning director Clint Eastwood now in theatres.
"Invictus” tells the inspiring true story of how Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) joined forces with the captain of South Africa’s rugby team, Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon), to help unite their country.

Newly elected President Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided in the wake of apartheid. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africa’s underdog rugby team as they make an unlikely run to the 1995 World Cup Championship match.

SOURCES: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1057500/plotsummary
http://wwws.warnerbros.co.uk/invictus/main/index.html?gclid=CKH7srqY358CFY-JzAod6DjiHQ
 
Right now, let's just watch the trailer:



In the week that marks the 20th anniversary (Feb 11th) of Nelson Mandela's release after having been imprisoned for 27 and a half (long) years and in the same year that South Africa will be hosting the Football World Cup, a tribute to a truly great man in a movie (surely) worth watching.
SEE ALSO:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela
http://www.nelsonmandela.org/index.php
http://www.nelsonmandela.org/index.php/news/article/un_general_assembly_declares_july_18_nelson_mandela_international_day/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apartheid