Today the world honored the memory of Nelson Rohilelah "Madiba" Mandela. Politicians and freedom fighters alike came together in the pouring rain to pay tribute to his Spirit and the exemplary service he provided as one of many who gave up much so that their countrymen and women alike might enjoy the fruits of their lands. As freedom loving peoples mourn the loss of this great fighter for the cause of freedom, justice and equality in his beloved South Africa, we who are left here must remember that the war against tyranny, exploitation and injustice continues.
Until people everywhere have an equal say and stake in the politics, economics and cultural output of the lands they live in none of us can rest on our laurels. Until all people, especially African peoples, are treated with respect and dignity they are deserving of we must not stop fighting.
We must also stay ever aware that the spin factories of Western propaganda will not fail to seize this moment to further their agenda. Despite the current wave of hoopla we must remember that Mandela was just a (hu)man, overall a good man, but a man nevertheless. This needs to be said; our youth must be taught that any of them could easily be another Mandela, Winnie, Malcolm, Betty, Martin, Corretta, Medgar, Myrlie, Ella, Fannie Lou, Adam, Stokely/Kwame, Assata, Fred or any other of the thousands of leaders by their work that have given so much in the defense of right; all they need do to start is stand up.
This needs to be said, for the media machine will have us believe these people were anomalies, rare and unique among their kind - the truth is far from that. Each of these people was the sum of the knowledge, leadership training, courage and conviction molded into them from past generations and forged in what Martin Luther King Jr described as "the zeitgeist" of their times. Today, more than ever, we need them to understand the cloth from which they were cut... we need them to realize what Public Enemy rapped when they told us "don't believe the hype." The message, simply put: We are not in a "post racial" world, racism/oppression/White Supremacy in its worst, deceptively subliminal form is as strong as ever and the world needs strong and committed men, women, boys and girls of all hues and ethnicities to stand against it.
So yes, let's take a moment to honor the best this fallen warrior gave to us... but when the moment has passed let us remember to pick back up the pens, swords, law books, guns, bibles, Qu'rans, microphones, cameras, cowry shells, cell phones, etc. that were temporarily lain aside to continue our quest to remove those whom would prevent us from being whole as our Creator made us. Ase!
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