Prison Letters

by Nelson Mandela, Sahm Venter (Editor), Zamaswazi Dlamini-Mandela (Foreword)

“Heartbreaking and inspiring,” Nelson Mandela’s Prison Letters reveals his evolution “into one of the great moral heroes of our time” (New York Times).

First published to mark the centenary of Nelson Mandela’s birth, The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela sparked celebrations around the globe for one of the “greatest warriors of all time” (O, The Oprah Magazine). Featuring 94 letters selected from that landmark collection, as well as six new letters that have never been published, this historic paperback provides an essential political history of the late twentieth century and illustrates how Mandela maintained his inner spirit while imprisoned. Whether they’re longing love letters to his wife, Winnie; heartrending notes to his beloved children; or articulations of a human-rights philosophy that resonates today, these letters reveal the heroism of a man who refused to compromise his moral values in the face of extraordinary human punishment, invoking a “story beyond their own words” (New York Times). This new paperback edition—essential for any literature lover, political activist, and student—positions Mandela among the most inspiring historical figures of the twentieth century.

381 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 13, 2019

About the author

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a former President of South Africa, the first to be elected in a fully representative democratic election, who held office from 1994–99.

Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of the African National Congress's armed wing Umkhonto we Sizwe. The South African courts convicted him on charges of sabotage, as well as other crimes committed while he led the movement against apartheid. In accordance with his conviction, Mandela served 27 years in prison, spending many of these years on Robben Island.

In South Africa he is often known as Madiba, an honorary title adopted by elders of Mandela's clan. The title has come to be synonymous with Nelson Mandela.

Following his release from prison on 11 February 1990, Mandela supported reconciliation and negotiation, and helped lead the transition towards multi-racial democracy in South Africa. Since the end of apartheid, many have frequently praised Mandela, including former opponents. Mandela has received more than one hundred awards over four decades, most notably the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/nelson...

Reviews

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine: you have been imprisoned for life. Hard physical labor. No visits from your partner, children, or grandchildren until they are 16, few and restricted letters, no bed, no sunglasses to protect your eyes. Imagine being unable to attend your mother's funeral, your son's? To not even be given details about their death?

How do you choose to live in prison? Do you give in or give up? Do you do what they ask of you? What – if anything – do you do to live with meaning and purpose? How do you relate to the other prisoners? To the guards, administration, and politicians with control over your life?

That was Nelson Mandela's life between 1962 and 1990. Initially, he was allowed one visitor every six months and could write and receive only one letter of 500 words every six months. They could give up a visit in exchange for two letters. He said disruptions to his correspondence were part of a deliberate attempt "on the part of the authorities to cut me off and isolate me from all external contacts, to frustrate and demoralise me, to make me despair and lose all hope and eventually break me." (p. ix). These problems were exacerbated as the personnel censoring letters did not understand English well and innocent discussions – which were to be limited to family matters – were easily misconstrued. (Stop and consider how your speech and written word would be interpreted by someone who did not understand your language or ideas well.)

Often, perhaps because what Mandela could write about was so limited, his letters were full of curiosity about others' lives, advice to his children and grandchildren, and grace:

I see that you are afraid of being kidnapped one day when you have discovered a dangerous drug. Do not worry much, darling, about kidnappers. Their world is getting smaller and smaller and their friends fewer. One day there will be a new world when all of us will live in happiness and peace. That world will be created by you and me; by Kgatho, Zeni & Zindzi; by our friends and countrymen. When you become a doctor or scientist and use your knowledge, training and skill to help your people who are poor and miserable and who have no opportunity to develop, you will be fighting for that new world. (p. 39, letter to Makaziwe Mandela, his eldest daughter, 2/16/1962)

Or to a former colleague:

To put it quite bluntly, Duggie, it is only my flesh & bones that are shut up behind these tight walls. Otherwise I remain cosmopolitan in my outlook, in my thoughts I am as free as a falcon. (p. 115, letter to Senator Douglas Lukehele, 8/1/1970)

Although his letters to family and friends were limited, he could advocate about injustices against himself and others imprisoned for political crimes.

the Government regards the prison not as an institution of rehabilitation but as an instrument of retribution, not to prepare us to lead a respectable and industrious life when released, and to play our role as worthy members of society, but to punish and cripple us, so that we should never again have the strength and courage to pursue our ideals. This [is] our punishment for raising our voices against the tyranny of colour. (p. 60, letter to Minister of Justice, 4/22/1969)

Yet his ideals were what he continued to fight for:

But even when the clash between you and me has taken the most extreme form, I should like us to fight over principles and ideas and without personal hatred, so that at the end of the battle, whatever the results might be, I can proudly shake hands with you because I feel I have fought an upright and worthy opponent who has observed the whole code of honour and decency. But when your subordinates continue to use foul methods then a sense of real bitterness and contempt becomes irresistible. (p. 193, letter to the Commissioner of Prisons, 7/12/1976)

Would you insist on being released on your terms rather than theirs? He noted that the African National Congress had only resorted to violence when all other options had been blocked. In a 2/13/1985 letter to the Commissioner of Prisons, he demanded:

1. The government must renounce violence first;
2. It must dismantle apartheid;
3. It must unban the ANC;
4. It must free all who have been imprisoned, banished or exiled for their opposition to apartheid;
5. It must guarantee free political activity. (p. 266)

What makes Prison Letters an interesting read is the range of detail – including letters to his wife Winnie, his children and grandchildren, politicians, friends, and acquaintances. I smiled at the 10/1989 letter to Mike Tyson, thanking him for the pair of boxing gloves sent to mark Mandela's 70th birthday.

I also appreciated the editors rich use of footnotes to identify letter recipients, people and places written about, and translations of isiXhosa and other languages. This was particularly helpful as friends and family were often referred to by multiple names, maybe nicknames, but perhaps to obscure some people's identifications, especially those people he was forbidden to write to or talk about.

Still, I read memoirs like Prison Letters to see what "normal people" can do under adversity. I prefer to think of Mandela not as a superman, but as an ordinary person who rose to the situation.

I am neither brave nor bold, & since the days of my youth, I have been stalked by the chronic weakness of being anxious to live & be an eye-witness to the introduction of the radical developments for which my countrymen have fought so bravely in the course of the last three centuries. (p. 80, letter to Sefton Vutela, his brother-in-law, 7/28/1969)

And, I prefer to see Mandela as a person who was honest and humble as he refused attributions of being a superman:

If I had been able to foresee all that has since happened, I would certainly have made the same decision, so I believe at least. But that decision would certainly have been far more daunting, and some of the tragedies which subsequently followed would have melted whatever traces of steel were inside me. (p. 284, letter to his friend Joy Motsieloa, 2/17/1986)