“I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination,” he said. “I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”
Nelson Mandela in his speech at his trial in 1964 before being sentenced to life in prison.
Fighting back tears, Ahmed Kathrada, who was jailed with Mandela on the Robben Island for 26 years and is a family friend, said the last time he saw Mandela was when the anti-apartheid hero was fighting for his life in hospital. Kathrada said he met Mandela 67 years ago, and was saddened to see that he had become a “shadow of his former self”, but spoke highly of his campaign against racial segregation. Here is the speech given his lifelong friend and anti-apartheid activist Ahmed Kathrada:
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Posted on December 15, 2013
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