February 11, 1990…I was in the final semester of my third year of law school on that day. I remember seeing the news reports of Nelson Mandela’s release from prison after 27 years of confinement. I really didn’t know that much about him. I did realize that South Africa was on the verge of civil war. And the prevailing view on this predominantly far-right leaning campus was that Mandela’s release would surely catapult the country into all-out bloody chaos. After all, Mandela was a convicted terrorist and a communist.

But we know that’s not what happened.

I am finding it hard to clearly express my feelings about Mandela’s passing yesterday. He is certainly a hero and I feel fortunate to have lived to witness his example. But that’s not good enough.

One of the reasons I feel so strongly about this idea for impact mindfulness is the inspiring example of Madiba’s life. I believe his long walk to freedom has valuable lessons for each of the three pillars of IM.

I was listening to CNN coverage of Mandela’s passing last night and one commentator, who knew Mandela well, said something that really made me think. He said that Mandela harbored great resentment towards his persecutors…those who had imprisoned him for so many of his years, killed his friends, oppressed his people and even refused to allow him to attend the funeral of his son. But he buried that resentment under his greater desire to see reconciliation and healing take place for the benefit of all South Africans…and for that to be an example for the entire world. And it indeed was.

If that’s not a shocking display of prioritizing impact over interest, I really don’t know what could possibly be.

I love the movie Invictus. It is intensely moving and inspiring. Morgan Freeman’s portrayal of Mandela is, as usual for this actor, stellar. If you haven’t seen it…you need to. The movie shows how Mandela used the symbology of South African rugby, a sport that was exclusively patronized by white South Africans, to bring reconciliation for South Africans of all colors.

Mandela was historically elected as South African’s first black president in 1994. A meeting had been convened under the new administration to consider disbanding South African’s national team, the Sprinboks. When Mandela heard of the action to dissolve the team, he quickly made a visit to the place where the vote was taking place and implored that it be re-thought. The team narrowly survived.

What happened next is South African sporting history. The team made its World Cup debut in 1995, when the newly democratic South Africa hosted the tournament. The Springboks defeated the All Blacks 15–12 in the final, which is now remembered as one of the greatest moments in South Africa’s sporting history, and a watershed moment in the post-Apartheid nation-building process.

What was most moving was Mandela’s appearance at the opening of the championship game wearing a Springbok’s jersey with the number 6, which was the number of the captain of the team, Francois Pienaar. When the predominantly white stadium crowd saw Mandela emerge, they began to chant his name in unison.

Now if that’s not a stunning embrace of the Big US, I don’t know what could possibly be.

Mandela was a fighter. He was a trained and very respectable amateur boxer. His blood simmered at the very thought of bowing to the repressive rules and regulations of the Apartheid regime. He became a lawyer and led the youth league of the African National Congress…an organization dedicated to the overthrow of Apartheid by peaceful means…initially. Mandela became disillusioned with the idea of peaceful protest against such a brutal system. He advocated terrorist action and he was imprisoned for that idea…before he was able to actually carry out any of his plans.

The man who entered Pollsmoor Prison on Robben Island in 1964 was a different man than the one that emerged in 1990. He may have entered a terrorist, but he emerged a reconciliator. What had happened during those 27 years of confinement? In his own words…

No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.

If Mandela could learn to love, to teach himself to love while suffering in prison, to take off the impact blinder of prejudicial hate, when he had so many valid reasons to harbor and act upon it…then I can think of no better example for the rest of us to do the same.

Yesterday might have been the final step of Nelson Mandela in his long walk to freedom, but his example of impact mindfulness in action will live on forever.

He is indeed free…and we all can be freer by following in his footsteps.

photo credit: LSE Library via Compfight cc