05 / 50 || Nelson Mandela || "Nelson Mandela, Speeches 1990: Intensify the Struggle to Apartheid"

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05. Nelson Mandela, Speeches 1990: Intensify the Struggle to Abolish Apartheid by Nelson Mandela; Greg McCartan
Pages: 74
Genre(s): Non-fiction; World History; World Politics; African History; African Studies
Rating: 8/10; Would Recommend

This is another in the series of books that a friend sent me a while back. This one was particularly interesting for me to read because I hadn't read/heard many of Mandela's speeches before, and so a lot of what I read was somewhat new to me.

Again, it's a thin paperback of selected speeches from, as the title indicates, right after he was released from prison but before the apartheid regime "officially" came to an end. It's a great starting place for those who aren't as familiar with Mandela as they'd like to be as there's a lot of ground covered in such a small number of pages. There are several speeches with similair themes, that being mostly that the struggle continues and that there must be a total overhaul of the systems that allow apartheid and racist policies to flourish, namely by direct confrontation, whether that be peaceful or otherwise (I am GROSSLY oversimplifying here; but that's the gist as I understand it).

I think my favorite one to read was one titled, "We must end the old social order and bring in a new one" in which he addresses South African business executives. It's probably not one of his most famous speeches, but I like that he spoke directly to the monied interests of South Africa (those that attended anyhow) and spoke on things such as the terrible legacy of a variety of -isms in South Africa (i.e. imperialism; capitalism; colonialism) and how these businesses could help remedy the situation.

I also like that the end of the book has a transcription of The Freedom Charter, the principles and changes to which the African National Congress has dedicated itself.

Overall, it was a greatly inspiring and informative read, and I recommend it to anyone who want to start taking a look into South African or African History and Nelson Mandela.

Comments may contain spoilers.