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Mandela

R. Drew Smith Professor, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Co-Convener, Transatlantic Roundtable on Religion and Race

National Reconciliation Without Accountability Rings Hollow

By Commentaries/Opinions

By R. Drew Smith Professor, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary Co-Convener, Transatlantic Roundtable on Religion and Race — Twenty-five years ago, Nelson Mandela was elected South African president after serving 27 years in prison for leading resistance against racially-oppressive apartheid rule. During that same moment in April of 1994, a horrible tragedy was unfolding further north on the African continent as longstanding ethnic grievances within Rwanda irr

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Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama

The Deep History Behind Barack Obama’s Speech for the Centennial of Nelson Mandela’s Birth

By Editors' Choice

By Olivia B. Waxman, TIME — When Barack Obama delivers the 16th Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture in Johannesburg on Tuesday, to mark this week’s centennial of the late anti-apartheid champion Nelson Mandela’s birth, the moment will be a deeply personal one for the former president. His speechwriter Ben Rhodes has said that Obama considers it to be the most important speech since leaving office, and Obama has written that his political awakening…

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In his first major speech since leaving office, Obama decries inequality and ‘strongman politics’

By Editors' Choice, Video/Audio

Former President Barack Obama delivers his first major speech since leaving office, addressing inequality and other issues at the 16th Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture in Johannesburg, South Africa. Video via Time. A written commentary by Summer Meza and an article by Jelani Cobb (In Celebrating Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama Indicts Trumpism).

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South African military personnel bring in the coffin at Orlando Stadium in Soweto for the funeral ceremony of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.

Huge crowds turn out for Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s funeral

By News & Current Affairs

Tens of thousands attend emotional service for veteran anti-apartheid activist. By Jason Burke — Tens of thousands of South Africans have filled a stadium in Soweto for the funeral service of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, a heroine of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa but also one of its most controversial figures. Shouts of “Long live Comrade Winnie”, “the struggle continues” and “power to the people” rang out around the stadium on Saturday throughout…

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