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Mandela, while increasingly politically involved from 1942, only joined the African National Congress in 1944 when he helped to form the ANC Youth League (ANCYL).

In 1944 he married Walter Sisulu’s cousin, Evelyn Mase, a nurse. They had two sons, Madiba Thembekile "Thembi" and Makgatho, and two daughters both called Makaziwe, the first of whom died in infancy. He and his wife divorced in 1958.

Mandela rose through the ranks of the ANCYL and through its efforts, the ANC adopted a more radical mass-based policy, the Programme of Action, in 1949.

Nelson Mandela on the roof of Kholvad House in 1953.(Image: © Herbert Shore, courtesy of the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation)

In 1952 he was chosen as the National Volunteer-in-Chief of the Defiance Campaign with Maulvi Cachalia as his deputy. This campaign of civil disobedience against six unjust laws was a joint programme between the ANC and the South African Indian Congress. He and 19 others were charged under the Suppression of Communism Act for their part in the campaign and sentenced to nine months of hard labour, suspended for two years.

A two-year diploma in law on top of his BA allowed Mandela to practise law, and in August 1952 he and Oliver Tambo established South Africa’s first black law firm, Mandela & Tambo.

At the end of 1952 he was banned for the first time. As a restricted person he was only permitted to watch in secret as the Freedom Charter was adopted in Kliptown on 26 June 1955.

Biography of Nelson Mandela – Nelson Mandela Foundation. https://www.nelsonmandela.org/content/page/biography. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.

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Rolihlahla Mandela was born into the Madiba clan in the village of Mvezo, in the Eastern Cape, on 18 July 1918. His mother was Nonqaphi Nosekeni and his father was Nkosi Mphakanyiswa Gadla Mandela, principal counsellor to the Acting King of the Thembu people, Jongintaba Dalindyebo. In 1930, when he was 12 years old, his father died and the young Rolihlahla became a ward of Jongintaba at the Great Place in Mqhekezweni¹.

Hearing the elders’ stories of his ancestors’ valour during the wars of resistance, he dreamed also of making his own contribution to the freedom struggle of his people.

Biography of Nelson Mandela – Nelson Mandela Foundation. https://www.nelsonmandela.org/content/page/biography. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.

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“To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.”
- Nelson Mandela

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His courage and determination through decades of imprisonment galvanized not only South African blacks, but also concerned citizens on every continent. After his release from prison in 1990, Mandela reclaimed his leadership role in the once-banned African National Congress (ANC) and fought tirelessly for democratic reform in his troubled homeland.

"Nelson Mandela." Contemporary Black Biography, vol. 77, Gale, 2010. Gale In Context: Biography, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1606004574/BIC?u=san74543&sid=BIC&xid=15cd8943. Accessed 7 Feb. 2021.

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Mandela was 24 years old when he joined the ANC, a group that sought to establish social and political rights for blacks in South Africa. In 1944 he married Evelyn Ntoko Mase, a nurse, and cofounded the Congress Youth League, a group calling for nonviolent protest and black African self-reliance and self-determination. At the time, South Africa was populated primarily by blacks but governed completely by whites. Black citizens were legally discriminated against in housing, education, and economic opportunity; they could not vote, and they were subjected to numerous white-authored laws and restrictions. The Youth League responded to this racist political climate by calling for civil disobedience--nonviolent strikes and "stay-at-home" days in protest of no fewer than 600 apartheid laws.

"Nelson Mandela." Contemporary Black Biography, vol. 77, Gale, 2010. Gale In Context: Biography, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1606004574/BIC?u=san74543&sid=BIC&xid=15cd8943. Accessed 7 Feb. 2021.

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 Sickened by the failure of the nonviolent protests, he quietly decided that more extreme measures needed to be taken against the white supremacist government. In a 1961 speech before the Pan-Africanist Conference in Ethiopia, he said: "Peace in our country must be considered already broken when a minority government maintains its authority over the majority by force and violence."

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 Sickened by the failure of the nonviolent protests, he quietly decided that more extreme measures needed to be taken against the white supremacist government. In a 1961 speech before the Pan-Africanist Conference in Ethiopia, he said: "Peace in our country must be considered already broken when a minority government maintains its authority over the majority by force and violence."

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"Nelson Mandela." Contemporary Black Biography, vol. 77, Gale, 2010. Gale In Context: Biography, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1606004574/BIC?u=san74543&sid=BIC&xid=15cd8943. Accessed 7 Feb. 2021.

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Although Nelson Mandela was a strong politician, many could argue that he was also an Ignatian leader, as he seeked challanges, maturely responded to critisism, and served with and for others.

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Mandela's national unity government began drafting a program of reconstruction and development aimed at meeting some of the concerns of the long-disenfranchised black population. Mandela, cognizant that many years and generations would pass before the deep wounds of apartheid were remedied, cautioned his people not to expect change overnight. Ebony quoted him as saying, "You won't be driving a Mercedes ... or swimming in your own backyard pool [anytime soon]." Instead the statesman was focused on such issues as health, housing, education, and the development of public utilities and economic stability. During his presidency, the government introduced legislation requiring workplace safety, overtime pay, and minimum wages.

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Social conditions in South Africa also screamed for attention. Detroit News reporter Jeffrey Herbst suggested that "one of the greatest tragedies of apartheid--the presence of an entire generation uneducated during the 1980s--further aggravates criminality." He went on to report that the South African crime rate had soared, particularly in Johannesburg, where a wave of violent assaults and carjackings affected business and scared tourists away. The same article noted that South Africa's murder rate was estimated to be ten times that of the United States, and an increase in money laundering and drug shipments had occurred. Crime and affirmative action spurred "white flight"; unemployment skyrocketed, and the value of the rand (South African currency) plunged. A poll showed support for the ANC dropping from 60 percent in 1994 to 53 percent in July of 1996.

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"Nelson Mandela." Contemporary Black Biography, vol. 77, Gale, 2010. Gale In Context: Biography, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1606004574/BIC?u=san74543&sid=BIC&xid=15cd8943. Accessed 7 Feb. 2021.

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"Nelson Mandela." Contemporary Black Biography, vol. 77, Gale, 2010. Gale In Context: Biography, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1606004574/BIC?u=san74543&sid=BIC&xid=15cd8943. Accessed 7 Feb. 2021.

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"However, as long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest.

We shall never forget how millions of people around the world joined us in solidarity to fight the injustice of our oppression while we were incarcerated. Those efforts paid off and we are able to stand here and join the millions around the world in support of freedom against poverty."

Nelson Mandela Foundation, db.nelsonmandela.org/speeches/pub_view.asp?pg=item&ItemID=NMS753&txtstr=justice.

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Mandela understood that after apartheid legislation, (the system of racial segregation in South Africa) was overturned, there could be potential for white retaliation. He wasn’t trying to move the pendulum to the other side, but rather he was trying to establish the balance; he was trying to establish true equality.

“Considering the Life and Values of Nelson Mandela.” Food for the Hungry, Food For the Hungry, 18 July 2018, www.fh.org/2018/07/18/life-and-values-of-nelson-mandela/.

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“Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, in the tiny village of Mvezo, on the banks of the Mbashe River in Transkei, South Africa.”

“Nelson Mandela.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 2 Mar. 2021, www.biography.com/political-figure/nelson-mandela.

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"His father was the chief of the Tembu, a Xhosa-speaking people. As a young adult, Mandela studied law. He became a lawyer in the early 1940s."

Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., kids.britannica.com/kids/article/Nelson-Mandela/353418.

“Nelson Mandela.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 2 Mar. 2021, www.biography.com/political-figure/nelson-mandela.

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“He studied law at the University of Witwatersrand, where he became involved in the movement against racial discrimination and forged key relationships with black and white activists. In 1944, Mandela joined the African National Congress (ANC) and worked with fellow party members, including Oliver Tambo, to establish its youth league, the ANCYL.”

History.com Editors. “Nelson Mandela.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 9 Nov. 2009, www.history.com/topics/africa/nelson-mandela.

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Apartheid was a system of racial inequality which kept all races separate from one another. In 1994, Mandela was of key importance in negotiating the freedom and equality of all South Africans.  He then became South Africa’s first democratically elected president.

“even though Apartheid no longer exists, the legacy of Apartheid can still be seen in South Africa today, especially in structural issues such as education and the distribution of labour.”

“Nelson Mandela: Father of the Nation.” South African History Online, www.sahistory.org.za/article/nelson-mandela-father-nation.

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“One of the 20th century’s most important civil-rights change-makers, Nelson Mandela devoted his life—including 27 years in prison—to bringing an end to the cruelly segregationist policies of South Africa’s apartheid system.”

Roos, Dave. “Nelson Mandela: His Written Legacy.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 17 July 2018, www.history.com/news/nelson-mandela-quotes.

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Mandela spent 27 years of his life in prison from 1964 till 1990. He had to face numerous atrocities including solitary confinement. He continued to be influential even in prison and there were numerous calls for his release.

https://learnodo-newtonic.com/nelson-mandela-accomplishments

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Anirudh, et al. “Anirudh.” Learnodo Newtonic, 11 Sept. 2018, learnodo-newtonic.com/nelson-mandela-accomplishments.