LAST week I mentioned a brilliant mind I encountered on my recent travels to Africa. I also met some brilliant Guyanese minds who have also experienced living on the continent for many years. Eric Phillips is an accomplished Guyanese man with some of the most brilliant ideas. I envy him for having great conversations with both Nelson and Winnie Mandela. He lived four houses from Nelson Mandela and visited Winnie at her Soweto home many times. As a child, the only thing I knew about South Africa was Nelson Mandela and then I found out about the phenomenal Winnie Mandela.
I was excited to take a pic with their statues, so can you imagine if I had the chance to meet them? lol . These are some of my favourite quotes from her.
“It dawned on me then that you either had to survive Apartheid, or you had to perish with it. And I decided to survive.”
“Preventing the conflicts of tomorrow means changing the mindsets of the youth of today.”
“They think because they have put my husband on an island that he will be forgotten. They are wrong. The harder they try to silence him, the louder I will become!”
Her strength and determination in a hostile and challenging environment are admirable. I love to engage people who knew her and my friend Fran, a South African living in California, was one of them. She was very close to the Mandelas, especially Winnie and she promised to introduce me to Winnie but she died a few months before. Dabu, a brilliant young attorney in South Africa who knows a lot about her, is my new chatting buddy. Eric and I had many conversations about her and I enjoyed hearing the stories as my mind envisioned this courageous woman who inspired many around the world. “Winnie Mandela was a beautiful looking woman, a proud African woman who was intelligent, warm, compassionate and fiercely aggressive in her fight against poverty and subjugation. None of us can vaguely understand the severe, personal pain she endured.” Eric said
He shared many poems he wrote as a tribute to her and decided to share a couple with you.
A ROSE
Took a stroll in the garden Just to clear my mind
Saw an inquisitive flower Peeping at me
Through misty talkative eyes
A single Black rose
Amidst a row of White flowers
So very easy to be seen
How could I not have noticed this be- fore
A startling contrast ….obviously
I plucked this flower at its stem Felt its petals tremble
The blood in my veins
Became abnormally warm
My heart beat became unstable
Its petals were Black Its stem was green Wearing a red crown It sat there supreme
I fell in love Instantly
A beautiful Black rose
Did I decide to take home Hypnotized by a flower Wearing my ancestral robes
I caressed her softly
While expressing my regrets Of not quickly recognizing Nature at its best
We talked for hours Renewing acquaintances Pledged our loyalties From that moment hence
In the garden of remembrance I took my daily stroll
Enjoyed being hypnotized
By a beautiful Black rose
A lesson to me
This experience will always be Of unparalleled Black beauty
Visible but unseen
FREEDOM
You said you were free
You promised you were free
And we believed you
With all our hearts and souls
And having believed you
We entrusted you
With all our hopes and aspirations
Freedom
Freedom
Free at last
Freedom
That all encompassing force
This became your pilgrimage
The eternal quest of your life
For South Africa
For the Civilized World
To end Apartheid
To end economic genocide
For you believed them
Because You have honour
And Dignity
And Love for Your People
O Freedom
Thou freest of all slaveries
Captive of our hearts
Redeemer of our souls
Freedom
Why didnt thou
Set us free
Winnie did and for that
She was ostracized
But Winnie
You are Free
And we are Free
Sleep well
Dear Mother
All is well with Your Soul
And we shall prevail
In
Your Name and Grace
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela AKA Mama Winnie has certainly done her way with regrets too few to mention. When I think about her life, she lived with conviction and stood up for what she believed in. What are we staying up for as we celebrate this beautiful journey called life BEYOND THE RUNWAY.
