(ThyBlackMan.com) On April 23rd, 2018, the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the Obama Foundation made an announcement. Next July 17th, ex-President Barack Obama will be the guest star to deliver a speech for Mandela centenary celebration which will took place at Ellis Park Arena in Johannesburg. The Obama lecture shall focus on the specific topic of “Renewing the Mandela Legacy and Promoting Active Citizenship in a Changing World”, otherwise on “creating conditions for bridging divides, working across ideological lines, and resisting oppression and inequality”. The Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture is a unique platform to rise debate on critical social issues in South Africa and around the world.
This annual lecture will be holding its 16th edition supported by Motsepe Foundation. 4,000 people are expected at this ceremony this year in honor to the first black democratically elected president of South Africa.
Indeed, each year, the Nelson Mandela Foundation chooses a prestigious personality to give a significant address by Mandela birthday celebration, July 18th, named Nelson Mandela International Day.
Previously, USA ex-President Bill Clinton, ex-UN General Secretary and Nobel Laureates Kofi Anan, Thabo Mbeki, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf ex-president of Liberia, Mary Robinson and Michelle Bachelet, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, , Wangari Maathai, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Muhammad Yunus, Professors Ariel Dorfman, Thomas Piketty and Ismail Serageldin, philanthropists Bill Gates and Mo Ibrahim were invited seen as global change makers. As the New York Times journal revealed, Barack Obama will spend 5 days in Johannesburg in July for a program of training of 200 young people in leadership skills.
“This year, we are in a hurry to welcome President Obama for the annual lecture of the foundation in Johannesburg, We thought to ourselves, who can best represent the legacy of Madiba? Who took the baton when he became president of his own country? Who would be able to deal with issues of democracy in a world ripped apart by corruption? We needed an African person” said Mr Sello Hatang, the Mandela Foundation CEO.
Obama was in South Africa at Mandela official funerals. He had declared “I am among the million people who have been inspired by Mandela’s life. The first political action I did was a rally against apartheid. I studied his words and writings. It is not easy to make a tribute to a man, to a great man regarding to History who lead his nation to justice. For Obama, Mandela is one of the highest moral reference as Abraham Lincoln ex Us president and Martin Luther King, civil right activist. Mandela and Obama met in Washington in 2005. As Mr Sello Hatang claimed, Mandela was “crazily enjoyed” by Obama election in 2008 because he could see it “as a crucial time in the history of the United states of America”. Mr Hatang considered Obama as a worthy heir to the anti-apartheid hero.
Mr Sello Hatang when announcing the 2018 event reacted to some negative critics to this Mandela day. “You must join the movement and change the life of just one person, if you can. We must be the legacy, we must try and find the Madiba in us, and we must build a values-based society. All the work we do must have a sustainable impact. Fighting poverty is at the core of what we wanted to do for Mandela Day,” he said. “As the Foundation, we invite you to be a part of this exciting global initiative”. He complained their national reality, that a quarter of South African children go hungry, with a similar number suffering stunted growth.
The Mandela centenary will be offer activities like exhibitions, , dialogues, the publication of several books, concerts, Mandela Fridays, a musical by celebrated playwright Mbongeni Ngema, running and boxing events in South Africa and abroad, and a commemorative banknote to be issued in partnership with the South African Reserve Bank and a special Tribute to Winnie Mandela. Barack Obama gets a new responsibility making him come back to Africa.
Source: http://www.nelsonmandela.org
Staff Writer; Abu-Jahlil Astrid Chacha
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