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Mandela became the first black president of South Africa. He served as president from 1994 to 1999.

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Robben Island is where Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in jail.

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By: Christo Brand with Barbara Jones

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" The way he saw it, if you have education, if you have degrees, if you have knowledge - even if it's about motor mechanics - for as long as you alive, they can't take it away from you. "
- pg. 41

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" He had this way of making provocative comments with a hint of humour so that you could not take offense. "
- pg. 231

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" This moment that passed between us, this silent understanding from man to man, meant everything to him. We became allies for life without referring to that day again all the time he was in prison." - pg. 35

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Watch this documentary to dig further into the unlikely friendship formed between Brand and Mandela.

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Jesselyn Radack & Thomas Drake | London Real

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Nelson Mandela: My Prisoner, My Friend - Christo Brand | London Real

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Christo Brand was Nelson Mandela's Prison Guard FULL FREE EPISODE: https://londonrealacademy.com/episodes/nelson-mandela-my-prisoner-my-friend/ Bulletproof Coffee http://bit.ly/bulletprooflr SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/SubscribeToLondonReal Every now and then I find myself in the middle of an interview on London Real and I think to myself, "Is this really happening? Is this guy really sitting here in our studio?"

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This bond was not confined to the iron bars of Robben Island. After Mandela was released, the two men only grew closer. Throughout Mandela’s presidency and Brand's term in parliament, they remained friends and stayed that way until Mandela’s death in 2013.

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For 12 of Mandela’s 27 years in prison, Brand witnessed Mandela cleaning and performing chores without complaint, even as the black prisoners were treated worse than white and Indian prisoners. Mandela grew vegetables for the other inmates and encouraged their studies.

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Mandela: My Prisoner, My Friend follows the life of a man named Christo Brand and his unique relationship with freedom fighter Nelson Mandela. When Brand was young, the quality of a person’s life in South Africa was greatly dependent on skin color. Christo Brand, a white male, lived his childhood largely unaware of the cruel, discriminatory system his country had established, called apartheid. As he grew older, however, Brand had the jarring realization that not every child grew up like him.

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Click this link to listen to a podcast and learn all about the life and growing up of Nelson Mandela.
(5 part audio series)

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DESMOND TUTU: This isDesmond Tutu. In 1994, the world watched as millions of South Africans cast their ballots in our country's first fully democratic election. After all the votes were counted, Nelson Mandela was President of a new South Africa. Mandela's journey, from freedom fighter to President, is one of the most dramatic stories of our lifetime.

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When he was 18, Brand decided to become a prison warden rather than enlisting in the army or police force. Brand was almost immediately assigned to an intriguing group of prisoners being held on Robben Island. The criminals he soon came face to face with were not what he was expecting. Instead of seeing violent, tattooed, young revolutionaries, he saw a group of old men ludicrously labeled terrorists. Despite the amusement he saw in the title bestowed onto his new prisoners, Brand knew that he was put in charge of the most dangerous men in all of South Africa, and among them was Nelson Mandela.