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Nelson Mandela statue is unveiled
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by liamssoft | August 29, 2007 at 02:08 am
1192 views | 2 Recommendations | 7 comments
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A statue of former South African President Nelson Mandela has been unveiled in London.Mr Mandela, 89, his wife Graca Machel, and Prime Minister Gordon Brown were among those at the unveiling in Parliament Square.
Mr Brown hailed Mr Mandela as the "greatest and most courageous leader of our generation".
The late South African anti-apartheid activist Donald Woods had the idea for the 9ft-high (2.7m) bronze statue.
But its fate had been dogged by arguments over where it should go as well as its artistic merit.
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liamssoft
United KingdomSthPacific
Kavieng, New Ireland, Norfolk Island
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (7)
at 03:18 on August 29th, 2007
liamssoft, I like this story. It's good stuff.
Nice catch Liamsoft Just saw it live myself, I have the vid if you want
it added. I see he really wanted to thank Fidel but just kept saying
things like "There were many Hero's and Heroine's involved" Remember
that the first thing he did when he was released was to fly to Cuba to
thank Castro. Che Guvara was also instrumental in the Struggle and
fought in the Region for 8 years. The Cubans lost a lot of troops
fighting the Americans around Lake Tanganeka Tanganyika, until Old
Ronnie Stinger Reagan showed up to arm the Anti-Comunist forces
fighting people like the ANC. Many people forget that the Iran Contra
affair was also in the played out in the Congo.
at 03:24 on August 29th, 2007
I posted the Video above, from when Nelson Mandela was released from Prison. The First thin he did was fly to Cuba to thank Fidel in Person. Its a touching seen :)
at 04:00 on August 29th, 2007
Many thanks SthPacific
Nelson mandela, South Africa's foremost politician.
at 05:22 on August 29th, 2007
MANDELA JOINS CHURCHILL AND LINCOLN IN LONDON
Well,
he'll be up there with the likes of Winston Churchill and Abraham
Lincoln in front of the British Houses of Parliament.
High
in the air above Parliament Square, the massive bronze of Nelson
Mandela, hidden from view until the moment of unveiling. South Africa's
white apartheid rulers used to keep him invisible too - in prison for
27 years because the white minority so feared the power of the man who
eventually led his people out of racist oppression. Nelson Mandela will
share Parliament Square with past statesmen, Winston Churchill the most
famous. But even Britten's war leader was honoured only after his
death.
GORDON BROWN, BRITISH PM: I'm looking forward also to the monument, the statue
Today Nelson Mandela was already in Westminster, meeting the Prime Minister ahead of the unveiling they will witness together.
NELSON MANDELA, FORMER SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT: My wife and I
are very happy and proud to be here because, as you know, this was one
of our rulers. But we overthrew them, and we are now on an equal basis.
BRONZE WORKER: Well, how many more people around are there
like him? Really. You know, for what he stands for. It's pretty
amazing. A lot of history.
A lot of history. Nelson Mandela is no stranger to London. He
calls himself an anglophile. This was his first visit in 1962,
including to Parliament Square. Even then he joked about the
possibility he might one day join the statues here. The film director
Richard Attenborough helped lead the campaign for the Mandela statue.
RICHARD ATTENBOROUGH, 'CRY FREEDOM' DIRECTOR: I don't think
there's ever been a figure quite as renowned, quite as respected.
Certainly he is unique to the extent that he has stood for the finest
elements of the human nature. So
finally, the prisoner who led his people out of racial oppression and
eventually became their president will be here to see himself in bronze
at the moment of the unveiling of this new statue.
And this statue will make a pair. Another one of Mandela, by
the same sculptor, already sits on the south bank of the River Thames.
at 01:49 on August 31st, 2007
Many thanks SthPacific
Mandela a truly Great man.
at 15:13 on August 30th, 2007
Pictures are available on my flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zefrog/sets/72157601741114140/
and an account of the event can be read on my blog: http://zefrog.blogspot.com/2007/08/madiba.html
at 01:46 on August 31st, 2007
Many thanks Zefrog, great blog post about the event here. Superb photos.Zefrog's
photosets on Flickr