To my sorrow I never met Nelson Mandela, but in a visit to his modest home on Vilakazi Street in Soweto in the 1990s there were a number of artifacts remaining that voiced much about the man. The one bedroom brick home was small with a brick wall between the kitchen in the rear and the living room in the front. The living room was a dangerous place. One can still see the ridge of higher ground blocks away where state security service officers regularly fired high power rifles into their living room. (The outside bricks are still chipped from target practice.) The Mandelas were forced to sleep on the kitchen floor in the back of the house in order to assure that they would wake up in the morning.
On the wall in the living room of the house is a proclamation from the Michigan Legislature apologizing to Mr. Mandela for the role of the American government and the CIA in helping the South African’s to locate the whereabouts of Mr. Mandela when he was in hiding and in facilitating his arrest.
There is also a photograph of Mohammed Ali and a photograph of Mr. Mandela in fighting stance. Mr. Ali was an inspiration to Mr. Mandela in sharing the love of sport and the willingness to sacrifice it in times that called for extreme moral commitment.
Finally, there is a pair of Mr. Mandela’s boots from Robbin Island. These boots are unusual in that the only wear on them is the bottom of the soles from running in place in his 8’ by 8’ jail cell. In a different context as a human being and an inspiration he deserves the tile “the Greatest.”
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