It's
time for another edition of the Tuesday Timeline. And, even though this week is the week of the holiday that shall
not be named (which isn't even a real holiday), this week's edition of the blog
will not feature a single reference to that day in which you're supposed to
give your girlfriend a box of chocolates so that she can dump you months later
for making her fat.
(Sigh...I
tried people. I really did try.)
But
that doesn't mean that we can't have fun along the way with this particular
entry today. A lot of interesting stuff
happened on February 11 in the world of history and pop culture. Just have a look at these!
660 BC - This date is believed to be the date in which
Japan was founded by Emperor Jimmu
1531 - Henry VIII is recognized
as the supreme head of the Church of England
1752 - The first hospital to open in the United States -
Pennsylvania Hospital - is opened by Benjamin Franklin
1790 - The Religious Society of Friends (otherwise known
as the "Quakers") petition U.S. Congress to abolish slavery
nationwide
1794 - The first session of the United States Senate
opens to the public
1826 - The University of London is founded under its
original name - University College London
1843 - Giuseppe Verdi's "I Lombardi alla prima
crociata" receives its first performance in Milan, Italy
1861 - The United States House of Representatives
unanimously passes a resolution guaranteeing noninterference with slavery in
all states
1903 - Anton Bruckner's 9th Symphony receives its first
performance in Vienna, Austria
1916 - After giving lectures on birth control, Emma
Goldman is arrested
1917 - American author Sidney Sheldon (d. 2007) is born
in Chicago, Illinois
1919 - Actress Eva Gabor (d. 1995) is born in Budapest,
Hungary
1938 - The BBC debuts the world's very first
science-fiction program - an adaptation of a portion of the play
"R.U.R"
1943 - General Dwight D. Eisenhower is selected to
command the Allied armies in Europe during World War II
1953 - President Eisenhower refuses a clemency appeal for
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
1968 - The Memphis Sanitation Strike begins
1971 - A total of eighty-seven countries sign the Seabed
Arms Control Treaty outlawing nuclear weapons on the ocean floor in
international waters
1973 - The first release of American P.O.W.'s take place
during the Vietnam War
1997 - Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on a mission
to service the Hubble Space Telescope
2006 - Author Peter Benchley (b. 1940) dies at the age
of 65
2012 - Singer Whitney Houston (b. 1963) is found dead in
her hotel room of a drug overdose at just 48 years old
There
are also a number of people who have birthdays on February 11. Here's just a sample of those who are
turning one year older today. Happy
birthday to Tina Louise, Burt Reynolds, Gerry
Goffin, Sergio Mendez, Jeb Bush, Wesley
Strick, Catherine Hickland, Bradley Cole, Carey
Lowell, Sheryl Crow, Diane Franklin, Sarah
Palin, Ty Treadway, Jennifer Aniston, Kelly
Slater, Shawn Hernandez, Isaiah Mustafa, Brice
Beckham, Brandy Norwood, Matthew Lawrence, Kelly
Rowland, Natalie Dormer, and Taylor Lautner.
So,
what date are we going to go back to this week? How about a date that is firmly etched into the pages of
modern-day history? A date that will
forever be highlighted in "Black History Month" for years to come.
We're
taking a trip back in time twenty-four years ago to February 11, 1990. And, many
of you probably already know what happened on that date because when this man
passed away two months ago at the age of 95, this date was mentioned quite a
lot in his epitaph and remembrances.
February 11, 1990. The date that Nelson
Mandela was freed from prison after spending over twenty-five years behind
bars.
Certainly,
it was one of the most important events to ever take place within the twentieth
century. And, although I was barely
nine years old when the release took place, I do remember our teachers talking
about it with us in class, and I sort of knew that what had happened was the
end of a living nightmare for Mandela, who would later become the President of
South Africa in 1994.
And, I'm sure that everyone who was alive on February 11, 1990 was watching as
Nelson Mandela walked outside of Victor Verstee Prison holding the hand of his
then-wife Winnie as a free man. It
truly was one of those moments that made you stop and stare, and reflect on
what he must have went through while he was imprisoned.
But why exactly was he in prison in the first place? What did he do that constituted Nelson Mandela spending a little over a quarter of his whole life behind bars?
The story goes like this.
But why exactly was he in prison in the first place? What did he do that constituted Nelson Mandela spending a little over a quarter of his whole life behind bars?
The story goes like this.
In
the 1940s, South Africa was not a very nice place to be if your skin colour
happened to be black. Apartheid (a term
meaning 'the state of being apart') was in full swing, and the racial
segregation between people of colour in South Africa and white South Africans
was out of control. Similar things were
happening in other nations of the world with racial segregation during this
time, but one could look at South Africa as being at the absolute extreme worst
case scenario.
Between the period of 1960 and 1983, for instance, it is estimated that close to three and a half million non-white South Africans were forcibly removed from their own homes and asked to leave the country for other parts of Africa. If you think that was bad enough, citizenship for black South Africans were revoked beginning in the early 1970s and the South African government at the time segregated educational opportunities, medical care, and public transportation, leaving black South Africans with lesser quality services than white South Africans.
Between the period of 1960 and 1983, for instance, it is estimated that close to three and a half million non-white South Africans were forcibly removed from their own homes and asked to leave the country for other parts of Africa. If you think that was bad enough, citizenship for black South Africans were revoked beginning in the early 1970s and the South African government at the time segregated educational opportunities, medical care, and public transportation, leaving black South Africans with lesser quality services than white South Africans.
It
was probably one of the biggest stains to ever be left in the history of the
twentieth century. You can see why so
many people in the world look at apartheid as a disgusting part of modern day
history.
And
certainly Nelson Mandela was against apartheid in all of its forms.
It's
hard to say when Mandela's fight against apartheid really began, but many would
believe that the catalyst took place in 1948.
1948 was an election year, and it was also a year in which the right to
vote was only granted to white South Africans.
And, 1948 is the year that apatheid really began to show its ugly head
when Daniel Francois Malan of the National Party took power.
I suppose it is redundant to mention this now, but at the time, the National Party was absolutely pro-white rights and anti-black rights. And, the year that Malan and his party implemented the new apartheid legislation was the year that Nelson Mandela began his fight against apartheid.
I suppose it is redundant to mention this now, but at the time, the National Party was absolutely pro-white rights and anti-black rights. And, the year that Malan and his party implemented the new apartheid legislation was the year that Nelson Mandela began his fight against apartheid.
Throughout
the 1950s and early 1960s, Nelson Mandela - with assistance from the African
National Congress - launched a campaign to raise awareness against apartheid,
and although he was a very charismatic speaker and had a following of people
who listened to his words, he certainly did have his brushes with the law.
It seemed as though every few months, Mandela would find himself in trouble with the law over his anti-apartheid sentiments. He was arrested in June 1952 after holding a public rally in which ten thousand people showed up, and was briefly held in Marshall Square Prison. But the net result of that arrest meant that the membership of the ANC grew from 20,000 members to over 100,000. Of course, this also had a negative impact as well, as the government's concern over so many people turning against their laws that they arrested mass numbers of people on the streets and introduced the Public Safety Act in 1963, which promoted martial law.
It seemed as though every few months, Mandela would find himself in trouble with the law over his anti-apartheid sentiments. He was arrested in June 1952 after holding a public rally in which ten thousand people showed up, and was briefly held in Marshall Square Prison. But the net result of that arrest meant that the membership of the ANC grew from 20,000 members to over 100,000. Of course, this also had a negative impact as well, as the government's concern over so many people turning against their laws that they arrested mass numbers of people on the streets and introduced the Public Safety Act in 1963, which promoted martial law.
Then
came Mandela's arrest for high treason on December 5, 1956. He, alongside with most of the ANC Executive
members were charged with high treason following a series of protests and
anti-apartheid movements, which the government deemed to be a threat to their
rule. Can't imagine why that would be
the case.
A total
of 156 people were arrested, and the trial lasted a grand total of five years,
wrapping up in March 1961 with the accused being declared not guilty. - a
verdict which completely embarrassed the government of South Africa. But just because Nelson Mandela avoided
serving jail time at the conclusion of the Treason Trial of 1956 didn't mean
that it was all over. For, Nelson's
hardships would really begin in the year 1962, when he was arrested along with
ten others on the charges of recruiting people for training in guerrilla
warfare and committing acts of sabotage, conspiring to commit said acts, and
soliciting and receiving funds from sympathizers in other African nations.
It
was at the beginning of the trial that Nelson Mandela stood up and gave a three-hour
long speech from the defendant's dock, which explained the political positions
of the ANC, as well as defending everything that they had done in an effort to
rid South Africa of all things having to do with apartheid. It was certainly an eloquent speech...and
perhaps the most important statement of that speech was at the very end of
it. Here are Nelson's own words, as
spoken at his trial in April 1964.
Of course, we all know what happened after that. We know that Mandela was found guilty and was sentenced to life imprisonment in South Africa in June of 1964. He spent the next two and a half decades in three different prisons undergoing many hardships, but refusing to back down on his dream that one day apartheid would be a thing of the past, and he hoped that he would live to see the day in which South Africans of all different backgrounds would enjoy equal rights.
Mandela's release from prison in February 1990 marked a huge turning point for the future of South Africa. A new president (F.W. de Klerk) had just been elected not long before Mandela's 1990 release, and while he believed that apartheid was an outdated political system that did more harm than good and pardoned all of the prisoners who were a part of the ANC during the 1950s and 1960s, Mandela was not initially given his release papers. It wasn't until November 1989 - the same month that the Berlin Wall came crumbling down - that de Klerk called his cabinet together to debate legalizing the ANC and freeing Mandela from prison. Not everyone on his cabinet was keen to see Mandela released at all, but de Klerk stood firm in his stance that Mandela be released from prison, and in December 1989, de Klerk and Mandela had a formal meeting discussing the situation.
Mandela's release was granted on February 2, 1990...and nine days later, Mandela walked out of that prison a free man...with renewed hope for the future.
And, over the last twenty-three years of his life, Mandela certainly made his mark on a now apartheid free South Africa, winning the presidency and making the necessary changes that he had wanted made for decades. His death in December 2013 at the age of 95 was the end of a life devoted towards bringing equality to all, and I think that he will always be considered one of the biggest freedom fighters of recent history.
February 11, 1990 was only the beginning...
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