Tag: Nelson Mandela

The attack by Congress of the People president Mosiuoa Lekota against President Cyril Ramaphosa, whom he called a apartheid-era sellout, is part of an attempt to “desecrate the liberation struggle by portraying its leaders as a bunch of corrupt crooks”, a political expert has said. “The attacks against the ANC, in particular, would increase as the party was losing its status and legitimacy as a leader of society,” analyst Ralph Mathekga said. “Those who make these accusation are not held accountable because SA society is so gullible. We don’t put the burden on the accuser to provide proof of whatever claim he makes against another person,” Mathekga said. I say this because the special branch rewarded you and they sent you home and we headed to Robben Island,” Lekota said. He confirmed that indeed he was detained with Lekota and others but he never sold out. Another was by SACP deputy general secretary Solly Mapaila regarding late PAC leader Robert Sobukwe. He said it was premature to dismiss Lekota and to believe on Wednesday that Ramaphosa indeed was a sellout. But now that Ramaphosa had explained, Lekota needed to make peace with the fact that there was someone who sold out who was not Ramaphosa. In his response in parliament, Ramaphosa also referred to similar sellout accusations levelled against Nelson Mandela after he was moved to a prison house in Victor Verster, away from Robben Island.

However, her close friend, fellow spiritual teacher and activist Marianne Williamson, officially announced on Monday evening that she is taking the bold leap into the political fray, running for the Democratic nomination in 2020. Williamson – whose first book A Return to Love shot her to prominence in 1992 – may not share Oprah’s celebrity, yet her deeply entrenched spiritual value system and maxim to ‘choose love over fear’ is one that will likely appeal to many Oprah loyalists. Williamson shared a similar sentiment with me when we spoke last September for my Live Brave Podcast about the importance of stepping into our power to affect change: “Too often we look to others to solve our problems and tell us what to do. “ The traditional political conversation is no longer serving Americans or the world ,” she shared in a recent television interview. I will address both the symptoms and the causes which created them.” “I’m never trying to get a message out,” she shared in an impassioned plea during our conversation. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. Your playing small does not serve the world.” In declaring her ambition to hold one of the world's most powerful positions, Williamson is undoubtedly walking her own talk. Yet given the unprecedented depths of incivility, dehumanization and political dysfunction in recent times, it would seem that America can only be served by having people like Williamson entering into the political discourse intent on elevating the conversation, not lowering it. The two would have undoubtedly disagreed on many issues. In a culture that stokes fear about all the bad things we don't want to happen, we need more heart-centered leaders who will inspire us toward all the good things that we do, appealing to the better (and braver) angels of our nature.

Patricia de Lille will continue her lifelong fight for a just, fair and caring society by forming an as yet unnamed political party, the former mayor of Cape Town announced on Sunday. WATCH: Patricia de Lille talks about her future and her journey as Cape Town mayor Her battle with the DA was like an abusive relationship, Patricia de Lille says. To join me in doing something good for our country. De Lille spent some time in her speech on Sunday in the Sun Square Hotel in the Cape Town city bowl speaking about what she called her "abusive relationship" with the DA, but insists she is not bitter. In a statement, DA spokesperson Solly Malatsi said De Lille's former political home "notes the announcement by Patricia de Lille that she has formed a new political party". "There are over 500 political parties in South Africa, Ms De Lille’s one will form part of that group. While De Lille's party's policy positions are still to be announced, she described the party's values as follows: "Our party will put people before politics. "We will clean up our country and politics." I believe in a good South Africa. To live a good life, and share, live and care and know what it means to be good."

Obama made the comments when he was discussing the best way to interact with those with whom we disagree. “Maybe we can change their minds, maybe they’ll change ours.” “You can’t do this if you just out of hand disregard what your opponent has to say from the start,” he continued. In fact, some people have taken this view to an even more extreme place. In a recent essay for the blog Everyday Feminism, a self-described “non-binary South Asian scholar and artist” named Ayesha Sharma stated that there is actually no way for a transgender person or a person of color to even be safe in a social-justice space where the majority of the group is white and cisgender. “No feminist space that is predominantly white and cis is ‘safe’ or ‘open to everyone,’” Sharma writes. Sharma explains that “the leaders of these spaces” may try and do their best to make those spaces comfortable to everyone, but “white and cis people, for example, end up having cultural and social power in that they’re in the majority.” “This can mean that marginalized people in those spaces can often feel silenced, small, and microaggressed,” Sharma writes. Issues such as racism and sexism are huge problems in our society, but the only way that we’re ever going to be able to solve them is by having open conversations. On this issue, Obama is right. A white man may not have experienced racism or sexism himself, but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be able to talk about it. Yes, there is something to be said for the fact that no one can ever truly understand an issue unless they’ve lived it, but it’s definitely the wrong move to shame people for simply trying to discuss something.

For participatory republican democracy to work, the president added, pluralism was a non-negotiable prerequisite. South Africa’s complicated history, persistent racial disparities, and the associated violence render the problem Obama was addressing an urgent one, and it is not directly applicable to civic life in the United States. And yet, stripped of its regional context, you could be forgiven for thinking that Obama was taking a swipe at his compatriots. Washington State’s Evergreen State College exploded last year when biology professor Bret Weinstein objected to a student-led initiative called the “day of absence,” in which white students were asked to voluntarily leave campus. Weinstein called it a form of racial segregation. As New York Times columnist Frank Bruni observed, people like Mark Lilla, a Democrat and opponent of identity politics, come under attack from progressive activists who take issue, not with their ideas, but with their race and gender. “White men: stop telling me about my experiences!” read the graffiti that Bruni recalled seeing deface an advertisement for a campus talk Lilla was prepared to deliver in 2017. It only seems to become difficult for liberals to find evidence of the left’s efforts to silence those with perceived majoritarian traits when they are called to account for this separatism. When the president only called on women at a 2014 press conference, his White House made sure to call around to reporters after the fact to make sure they noticed. Divisive identity politics is now how both political parties approach the electorate.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa talks to former U.S. President Barack Obama at the Nelson Mandela annual lecture, marking the centenary of the anti-apartheid leader's birth, in Johannesburg, South Africa, on July 17, 2018.Siphiwe Sibeko / Reuters Former President Barack Obama on Tuesday laid out a progressive vision for the future in direct rebuke to what he called the "politics of fear and resentment and retrenchment" that have taken hold around the world. In remarks honoring the 100th anniversary of anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela's birth, delivered in South Africa a day after President Donald Trump was roundly criticized for cozying up to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Obama denounced creeping authoritarianism and warned against "strongman politics" practiced by leaders who ignore facts and "seek to undermine every institution ... that gives democracy meaning." It is a "moment in time in which two very different visions of humanity's future compete for the hearts and minds of citizens around the world," he added. Framing his remarks as a reflection on Mandela's legacy "given the strange and uncertain times that we are in," Obama offered a rebuttal to Trump policies, such as separating migrant families at the southern U.S. border, and postures, all without mentioning the president by name. Obama acknowledged that technology and globalization have resulted in feelings of insecurity, joblessness, and the consolidation of wealth in the hands of the few. But, he said, that is why democratic societies must work harder to counter the political forces that would exploit grievance and stoke "barely hidden racial nationalism." At one point, he invoked the World Cup-winning French soccer team, which counts the children of immigrants among its members, and warned that countries that engage in xenophobia "eventually ... find themselves consumed by civil war." "We are stuck with the fact that we now live close together and populations are going to be moving. He also lashed out at those who “reject objective truth,” saying that the denial of facts could be the undoing of democracy. After Obama became president he sent a copy of the photo to Mandela, who kept it in his office.

To Mama Graça Machel, members of the Mandela family, the Machel family, to President Ramaphosa who you can see is inspiring new hope in this great country -- (cheers and applause) -- professor, doctor, distinguished guests, to Mama Sisulu and the Sisulu family, to the people of South Africa -- (cheers and applause) -- it is a singular honor for me to be here with all of you as we gather to celebrate the birth and life of one of history's true giants. One hundred years ago, Madiba was born in the village of M -- oh, see there, I always get that -- (laughter) -- I got to get my Ms right when I'm in South Africa. And even in my own country, even in democracies like the United States, founded on a declaration that all men are created equal, racial segregation and systemic discrimination was the law in almost half the country and the norm throughout the rest of the country. And while globalization and technology have opened up new opportunities, have driven remarkable economic growth in previously struggling parts of the world, globalization has also upended the agricultural and manufacturing sectors in many countries. First, Madiba shows those of us who believe in freedom and democracy we are going to have to fight harder to reduce inequality and promote lasting economic opportunity for all people. It is a truth that lies at the heart of every world religion -- that we should do unto others as we would have them do unto us. That we see ourselves in other people. He said, "Democracy is based on the majority principle. And to make democracy work, Madiba shows us that we also have to keep teaching our children, and ourselves -- and this is really hard -- to engage with people not only who look different but who hold different views. They stand on the shoulders of those who came before, including that young black boy born 100 years ago, but they know that it is now their turn to do the work.

A day after Mr. Trump met with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, Mr. Obama delivered his highest-profile speech since leaving office, at an event in South Africa marking the 100th anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s birth. “Strongman politics are ascendant suddenly, whereby elections and some pretense of democracy are maintained, the form of it, but those in power seek to undermine every institution or norm that gives democracy meaning.” Mr. Obama opened his nearly 90-minute speech with a nod to current events, saying that times were “strange and uncertain” and that “each day’s news cycle is bringing more head-spinning and disturbing headlines.” He said that leaders embracing the “politics of fear, resentment and retrenchment” were undermining the international system established after World War II. “It’s on a move at a pace that would have seemed unimaginable just a few years ago. I’m not being alarmist; I’m simply stating the facts.” Just the day before, Mr. Trump had stood next to Mr. Putin in Helsinki, Finland, and disputed his own intelligence agencies’ conclusion that Moscow, at the behest of Mr. Putin, interfered in the 2016 presidential election. “Look, let me say: Politicians have always lied, but it used to be that if you caught them lying, they’d be like, ‘Ah, man.’” He also addressed growing anti-immigration policies in the United States and Europe. In the United States, Mr. Trump ordered a ban on travel to the country from several predominantly Muslim countries. His administration also enforced the former policy of separating immigrant children from parents who cross illegally into the United States. The ideals promoted by Mandela are now at risk, he added. Two different stories, two different narratives, about who we are and who we should be.” Countries like Russia and China are trying to take advantage of the moment of uncertainty, he said. “Within the United States and within the European Union, challenges to globalization first came from the left but then came more forcibly from the right,” Mr. Obama said.

The Global Citizen Festival announces its Mandela 100 concert to honor Nelson Mandela's legacy in the fight to end extreme poverty. The festival will be headlined by Beyonce, Jay-Z and more. Forest Whitaker, Rev. Al Sharpton and Chuck Robbins discuss.…

Abiy Ahmed, the prime minister of Ethiopia, has accelerated a radical reform programme that is overturning politics in the vast, strategically significant African country. Ethiopian prime minister vows to stick to reforms after explosion at rally Read more In recent days, Abiy fired the head of Ethiopia’s prison service after repeated allegations of widespread torture, and removed three opposition groups from its lists of “terrorist” organisations. “The youth [are] the active force behind the country’s growth. Now there must be a new model to make Ethiopia progress economically by creating more job opportunities for the youth while respecting political and civil rights,” said Befeqadu Hailu, a 37-year-old blogger jailed repeatedly for his pro-democracy writings. Last month, a grenade was thrown at a rally organised to showcase popular support for the reforms in Addis Ababa’s vast Meskel Square, where many among the tens of thousands supporters wore clothes displaying the new prime minister’s image and carried signs saying “one love, one Ethiopia”. To those who tried to divide us, I want to tell you that you have not succeeded,” Abiy said in an address shortly after the attack. At least 30 civilians and nine police officers were arrested. Another could be a faction opposed to the effort to find peace with Eritrea. Tiruneh, said shelves of books on religion, philosophy and science filled Abiy’s office. “Sadly we have been there for 27 years and we want that to change.