Nelson Mandela: The Birth of a Freedom Fighter

Reading Time: 4 minutes

• The Birth of a Freedom Fighter is the third chapter (48 pages) in Nelson Mandela’s memoir, Long Walk to Freedom.
• The 1994 autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, is divided into 11 chapters.
• It includes his early years, beginning in 1918, in Transkei, his career as a lawyer, and then his rise as an African National Congress leader.
•  It also recounts his 27 years in prison (this comprises about one-third of the book)
•  Mandela’s story is stirring, and some of his most frequently quoted words have been drawn from Long Walk to Freedom:

I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one’s head pointed toward the sun one’s feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.

 

 

KEY POINTS – THE BIRTH OF A FREEDOM FIGHTER

• The Birth of the Freedom Fighter begins with the sentence – “I cannot pinpoint a moment when I became politicized…” (Africans are politicised from the moment of their birth.)
• Right from his birth, he was restricted by racial laws and regulations that crippled his growth and development as an individual.
• Being an African, he was restricted in many ways – He was allowed to be born in an African-only hospital and taken home in an African-only bus. He had to live in an African-only area, attend an African-only school (if he attends one), and hold on to an African-only job.
• If he fails to produce his pass/identity, day or night, he could be arrested and imprisoned.
• The ideas of Walter Sisulu influenced him at a very young age. His strong beliefs and contributions to the African National Congress (ANC). He was a reasonable, practical and dedicated man.
• The African National Congress was the only organisation that welcomed everyone -An umbrella under which all Africans could find shelter. ANC’s charter was titled ‘African Claims’ – It called for full citizenship for Africans, including the right to buy land.
• Mandela met Anton Lembede in 1943 – He was a magnetic personality with original thoughts and startling ways – Anton Lembede was against the worship and idolization of the West -He said, “The colour of my skin is beautiful, like the black soil of Africa” – He preached self-reliance and self-determination and called this as the philosophy of Africanism – Because of his influence Mandela rejected the idea of white as “cultured, progressive and civilized”.
• Mandela, along with his friends, formed the Youth League in 1944 to work along with ANC – Its basic policy was akin to ANC- African nationalism, the creation of one nation with many tribes, the overthrow of white supremacy, the establishment of democracy –  They felt “foreign ideology” cannot be unquestioningly accepted –They rejected all legislations by white of the past 40 years.
• Some of these Acts/legislations were:
  • Land Act – deprived 87% of the African land.
  • Urban Area Act (1923) – created slums to supply cheap labour to white industry.
  • Colour Bar Act (1926) – banned Africans from practising skilled trades.
  • Native Administration Act (1927) – made the British crown the paramount chief in the African area.
  • Representation of Natives Act – removed Africans from the common voter roll.
• Mandela worked and studied while staying with Mr Walter. At that time, he had little confidence in his own speaking abilities.
• During this time, Mandela met his first wife, Evelyn Mase, and fell in love. They shortly got married.
• The 1946 mine workers’ strike was a notable event. The strike was for a wage hike, and the leaders were arrested. Later, the strike was crushed.
• Another event occurred in the same year, which significantly altered his political outlook – the government passed the Asiatic Land Tenure Act, which restricted the free movement of Indians and their property rights. People from all walks protested against it, and it was a huge success. It instilled radicalism and broke the fear of prison.
• A son was born to Mandela; he added his clan title, Madiba, to his son’s name.
• Mandela felt that whatever he had done inside the country was relevant to the outside world.
• The Birth of a Freedom Fighter is solely devoted to the formation of the Youth League and the formative period of Mandela as a leader of the underprivileged.
• Various socio-political movements that helped shape his revolutionary ideas and, in turn, contributed to the development of a freedom fighter within him are vividly depicted.
• Mandela defines Apartheid – It was a new term but an old idea – It literally means “apartness” – It represented the codification in one oppressive system of all the laws and regulations that had kept Africans in an inferior position to whites for centuries – The premise of the apartheid was that whites were superior to Africans, Coloureds, and Indians and function of it was to entrench white supremacy forever – The church supported this – Their slogan was – “The white man must always remain boss” – Their platform rested on the word – “baasskap” – literally boss-ship – a word that stood for white supremacy in all its harshness.
• The principles of Marxism influenced Mandela during this time. He subscribed to Marx’s basic dictum – ‘From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs’-Marxism’s call for revolutionary action was music to the ears of freedom fighters.
• He concludes the chapter by stating, “I had come of an age as a freedom fighter.”
• The white man could understand the power of his punches.
• He could walk upright like a man and look everyone in the eye with the dignity that comes from not having succumbed to oppression and fear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

WORKS CITED

Mandela, Nelson. Birth of a Freedom Speech, 10 May 1994, Pretoria, South Africa. Accessed through South African Government Archives.

Mandela, Nelson. “Inaugural Address of Nelson Mandela, May 10, 1994.” Nelson Mandela Foundation, www.nelsonmandela.org/omalley/index.php/site/q/03lv02039/04lv02103/05lv02120.htm. Accessed 4 Nov. 2024.