The life and legacy of late South African leader Nelson Mandela were honored Wednesday in Washington.
US Vice President Joe Biden said Mandela was “the most impressive man or woman I’ve ever met in my life”.
He lauded Mandela’s refusal to turn to hatred following his 27-year imprisonment, saying, “He could have used words of anger and revenge. Such words would have had an effect on so many people still living in desperation and oppression. For when he was released, apartheid still existed.”
He added, “So many places in the world need the spirit of Nelson Mandela.”
Coordinated by the South African embassy in Washington, the multi-faith ceremony brought together religious leaders from the Christian, Muslim and Jewish faiths, and included music from both African and Western traditions. It was attended by numerous dignitaries, rights leaders and US officials including Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry, actress and activist Alfre Woodard, DC Mayor Vincent Gray and South Africa’s ambassador to Washington, Ebrahim Rasool.
“Nelson Mandela and his spirit will never die, but will live on in us,” said Jim Wallace, the President and founder of Sojourners, a Christian periodical.
And indeed, Mandela’s legacy continues to be a lesson for activists across the world.
“Let us call to mind all those who are incarcerated unjustly, and let us call to mind all the freedom fighters around the world who suffer in jails for calls of liberty and democracy. May they have the strength to endure,” said Mary Francis Berry, a rights activist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
Imam Ebrahim Moussa, a professor of Islamic Studies at Duke University, said “Lord of the worlds, we thank you for providing us with Nelson Mandela; a beacon of radical hope for South Africa and the world. We thank you Lord for making him an instrument of justice, compassion and reconciliation.”
Mandela will be laid to rest November 15 in his home village of Qunu in Eastern Cape. He died at the age of 95.
