Lives That Changed the World: Nelson Mandela

The former president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela offers an inspiring example of courage, endurance, and forgiveness, evolving from terrorist to peacemaker, and emerging after 27 years in prison to become a symbol of unity for a country struggling to overcome a history of brutal segregation under apartheid. Written and directed by Nadine Pequeneza, this Smithsonian Channel documentary depicts Mandela as a man who abandoned a law career to protest a system of “separate development” that denied people of color access to decent housing, education, and healthcare. After joining the African National Congress, he eventually led its armed wing in a campaign of terror, was arrested, and spent decades exiled in a cell on a prison island. Finally released in 1990, Mandela surprised many when he spoke out against anger and revenge, counseling instead to adopt the healing powers of forgiveness. Toward this end he established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which offered amnesty to those who were involved in violently suppressing dissent, provided they admit their deeds in public. Mandela also shrewdly used the country's passion for rugby as a national unity symbol (a strategy familiar to those who have seen the recent Clint Eastwood film Invictus). Included are interviews with Mandela's daughter, as well as an AIDS activist Mandela helped, a guard who worked in the prison where Mandela was kept, and a white former president of South Africa—but, unfortunately, none with Mandela himself. Still, this is a solid portrait, and definitely recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (S. Rees)