Enid
Holden Reflects On Nelson Mandela 's Achievements--
This beautiful
passage is commonly ms-attributed to Nelson Mandela's 1994 Inaugural
Address. It had a huge impact on my life. It actually comes from 'A
Return To Love' (1992) by Marianne Williamson.
Our deepest
fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are
powerful beyond
measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing
small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant
to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of
God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our
presence automatically liberates others."
Nelson
Mandela’s life and achievements have been a beacon of hope and
light to South African’s of my generation, who had the horror of
being born into apartheid system and the fear of wondering what the shedding
of that burden would look like in the future of a divided nation. Mandela
came as a healer with a mission of peace and freedom for all. He set
out to achieve the impossible at great risk to himself and achieved it
despite everything it cost him. He has been my inspiration to follow
my dream to be a musician and to act for good in the world.
Enid Holden
Mandela said in his inaugural address:
“ We are both humbled and elevated by the honor and privilege that you, the people of South Africa, have bestowed on us, as the first President of a united, democratic, non-racial and non-sexist government.We understand it still that there is no easy road to freedom. We know it well that none of us acting alone can achieve success.We must therefore act together as a united people, for national reconciliation, for nation building, for the birth of a new world.Let there be justice for all.Let there be peace for all.Let there be work, bread,
water and salt for all. Let each know that for each
the body, the mind and the soul have been freed to fulfill themselves. Never,
never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world. Let freedom reign. The sun shall never set on so glorious a human achievement!”
Mandela’s Victory copyright E Holden/A Haracic 2007
Was it possible to change so much in a day
Was it possible to change so much in a day
Was it possible to make apartheid go away
Was it possible to let suffering have its say
How was it possible to change so much in a day?
Was it possible to change so much in a day…
Was it possible to change so much in a day
Was it possible that old conflict died away
Was it possible forgiveness came to stay
How was it possible to change so much in a day
Now you can walk in the land of democracy
With a bill of rights for everyone to see
And a government run by the majority
And equal rights for all, including me
Oh finally
a proud day –
Finally victory came
After so much waiting, so much dying, and so much pain
Our first true leader was a saint yea, yea,
he was transcendent mmm His name was Mandela,
his spirit carved out of quarry rock,
Mandela mmm
was a kind of savior
Forged in steel and hard labor
The father of the scattered nation
Who offered everyone salvation
We’re proud at last of something good
Power and peace in the neighborhood
We’re proud at last of something good
Power and peace in the neighborhood
Nelson
Rolihlahla Mandela was born in Transkei, South Africa on
July 18, 1918. His father was Chief Henry Mandela of the Tembu
Tribe. Mandela himself was educated at University College of
Fort Hare and the University of Witwatersrand and qualified in
law in 1942. He joined the African National Congress in 1944
and was engaged in resistance against the ruling National Party's
apartheid policies after 1948. He went on trial for treason in
1956-1961 and was acquitted in 1961.
After the banning of the ANC in 1960, Nelson Mandela argued for the setting
up of a military wing within the ANC. In June 1961, the ANC executive considered
his proposal on the use of violent tactics and agreed that those members who
wished to involve themselves in Mandela's campaign would not be stopped from
doing so by the ANC.
This led to
the formation of Umkhonto we Sizwe. Mandela was arrested in 1962
and sentenced to five years' imprisonment with hard labour.
In 1963, when many fellow leaders of the ANC and the Umkhonto we Sizwe were
arrested, Mandela was brought to stand trial with them for plotting to overthrow
the government by violence. His statement from the dock received considerable
international publicity.
On June 12,
1964, eight of the accused, including Mandela, were sentenced
to life imprisonment. From 1964 to 1982, he was incarcerated
at Robben Island Prison, off Cape Town; thereafter, he was at Pollsmoor
Prison, nearby on the mainland.
During his years in prison, Nelson Mandela's reputation grew steadily.
He was widely accepted as the most significant black leader in
South Africa and became
a potent symbol of resistance as the anti-apartheid movement gathered strength.
He consistently refused to compromise his political position to obtain
his freedom.
Nelson Mandela was released on February 11, 1990. After his release,
he plunged himself wholeheartedly into his life's work, striving
to attain the goals he
and others had set out almost four decades earlier.
In 1991,
at the first national conference of the ANC held inside South
Africa after the
organization had been
banned in 1960, Mandela was elected President of the ANC while his lifelong
friend and colleague, Oliver Tambo, became the organisation's National
Chairperson.
From Les
Prix Nobel. The Nobel Prizes 1993, Editor Tore Frängsmyr,
[Nobel Foundation], Stockholm, 1994
Rays of Stone
Stayed away from my destiny
Buried my heart in a cave
Surrounded by a wall, built stone by stone
Stone by stone
raveled along, traveled alone
Solo is safety
Safe as a house of stone
Until without
Invitation
Oh, the warmest sensation
Pierced my shell
Stone rays
Of your beauty, of your soul
Fashioned by your fragrance
Crashed through my defenses
Smashed my cell
Though I said No
To surrender
Told myself that wholeness
Is comprised of one
Since I was taken, overtaken by surprise
By your lethal arrows
Am overcome
Stayed away from my destiny
Buried my heart in a cave
Surrounded by a wall, built stone by stone
Stone by stone
Traveled along, traveled alone
Solo is safety
Safe as a house of stone
Coming Home Copyright A Haracic / E Holden 2007
Coming Home
I belong to this
My senses are of this place
My memories buried deep
Awakened, my heart stirs
Coming Home
From far away it’s strange
Finding oneself in the land
the early landscape of the human soul
always has been Africa
and we all still feel her call
always has been Africa
and we all still feel her call
Chorus: My heart knows it is near the great river
The rushing water it can hear
The breaking water of Africa
That ambiguous mother
Who overdosed her children in shame
because the roaring lion in the heart of man
roamed untamed
Coming Home
The slant of the light
The chirping loud in the night
The flavour of the air and the pungent earth
The habits that we share from birth
Coming Home
From far away it’s strange
Finding one self in the land
the early landscape of the human soul
always has been Africa
and we all still feel her call -always has been Africa
and we all still feel her call
Themba Copyright E Holden/A Haracic 2007
Themba Thembiso
It doesn’t seem fair
You were so young and full of promise
To have to go there
Themba Ntombela
A beautiful man like you
You life rose out of the ashes
From the old system to the new
Themba Ngubane
After all you have seen
All the hope you encountered
When Freedom was just a dream
Themba Thembiso
Broke your old mother’s heart
As she watches her children
One by one they depart
Themba Sibisi
Your face was so fine
Your studies were valiant
But your reward was no time
Africa, see this suffering
See this sorrow and be moved
Your people don’t deserve this
They can never be soothed
Africa, your children are dying in droves
Mbeki won’t see it
And Zuma’s eyes are closed
Themba Thembiso
I wish you were still here
Your spirit was precious
The price you paid was too dear
Shrouded in Sorrow Copyright Enid Holden/Asim Haracic 2007
I feel like I’m shrouded in sorrow
Have a cross to bear
There’s no way to negate the past
Although the future’s here
I feel like I’m shrouded in sorrow
My soul is alone
I’m longing for your understanding
For your dark arms to be my home
I feel like I’m shrouded in sorrow
All my country’s bearing pain
Oppression in the past, disease is the present
Can the struggle be in vain?
I feel like I’m shrouded in sorrow
There’s so little I can do
And when there is, will I do it
Or will I sell out too?
Chorus: Oh its so easy to be a judge
Easy to condemn
I’m alone inside this pale skin
Who can tell I’m African?
Born
in a Random Place Copyright Enid Holden/Asim Haracic 2007
At the mercy of history
Find a place in a family
Wake up in a wasteland, maybe
Wake up on a bloody day
At the mercy of history
The soul has a human face
Wake up in a struggle, maybe
With a war for destiny
But I see a candle
Burning in the darkest time
Peace and transformation will come
The warmth of light will shine
The warmth of light will shine again
Hold up hope for better times
Hold up a light for the sun to shine
Liberty and - rights enshrined
Hold up a light for humankind
In the meanest winter
The world is poised for springtime
Spirit is transcendent, baby
One day the sun will shine
Hold up hope for better times
Hold up a light for better times
Liberty and rights enshrined
Hold up a light for humankind
Move forward to better times
Move forward with an open mind
Liberty and rights enshrined
Move forward for humankind
STILL A STRANGER
copyright E Holden/A Haracic 2007
Shots near the head
Imagining a new life
Run from my dread
And unseemly yearning
Rendered speechless
Turbulent dreaming
In isolation
The only meaning, you
Bloody horizon recedes from me
Stained in their eyes, in perjury
Chorus: I’m still a stranger
Escaping danger
Only your smile
To brighten exile
Solitary
Confinement
Chance in the dark
Hope of a healthy refinement
Rendered speechless
Turbulent dreaming
In isolation
The only meaning, you
Bloody horizon recedes from me
Stained in their eyes, in perjury
Chorus: I’m still a stranger
Escaping danger
Only your smile
To brighten exile
Enid
Holden Reflects On Nelson Mandela 's Achievements--