Madison

“His day is done.

Is done.

The news came on the wings of a wind, reluctant to carry its burden.

Nelson Mandela’s day is done.

The news, expected and still unwelcome, reached us in the United States, and suddenly our world became somber.

Our skies were leadened.

His day is done.

We see you, South African people standing speechless at the slamming of that final door through which no traveller returns.

Our spirits reach out to you Bantu, Zulu, Xhosa, Boer.

We think of you and your son of Africa, your father, your one more wonder of the world.

We send our souls to you as you reflect upon your David armed with a mere stone, facing down the mighty Goliath.

Your man of strength, Gideon, emerging triumphant.

Although born into the brutal embrace of Apartheid, scarred by the savage atmosphere of racism, unjustly imprisoned in the bloody maws of South African dungeons.

Would the man survive? Could the man survive?

His answer strengthened men and women around the world.

In the Alamo, in San Antonio, Texas, on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, in Chicago’s Loop, in New Orleans Mardi Gras, in New York City’s Times Square, we watched as the hope of Africa sprang through the prison’s doors.

His stupendous heart intact, his gargantuan will hale and hearty.

He had not been crippled by brutes, nor was his passion for the rights of human beings diminished by twenty-seven years of imprisonment.

Even here in America, we felt the cool, refreshing breeze of freedom.

When Nelson Mandela took the seat of Presidency in his country where formerly he was not even allowed to vote we were enlarged by tears of pride, as we saw Nelson Mandela’s former prison guards invited, courteously, by him to watch from the front rows his inauguration.

We saw him accept the world’s award in Norway with the grace and gratitude of the Solon in Ancient Roman Courts, and the confidence of African Chiefs from ancient royal stools.

No sun outlasts its sunset, but it will rise again and bring the dawn.

Yes, Mandela’s day is done, yet we, his inheritors, will open the gates wider for reconciliation, and we will respond generously to the cries of Blacks and Whites, Asians, Hispanics, the poor who live piteously on the floor of our planet.

He has offered us understanding.

We will not withhold forgiveness even from those who do not ask.

Nelson Mandela’s day is done, we confess it in tearful voices, yet we lift our own to say thank you.

Thank you our Gideon, thank you our David, our great courageous man.

We will not forget you, we will not dishonor you, we will remember and be glad that you lived among us, that you taught us, and that you loved us all.”
― Maya Angelou, His Day Is Done: A Nelson Mandela Tribute

“Lies Have expiry dates but the truth never expires”
― Oche Otorkpa

“THE VOICE

I know you can’t see me,
But you are a part of me.
Like that finger on your hand,
Only bigger.

Through you and with you,
I am living and growing,
Learning,
Expanding,
And having fun.

If you think you’re alone,
You’re wrong.
I’m here in your eyes reading this with you.
I’m there,
Sitting in your seat with you,
Experiencing your surroundings.

You’re not alone.
I’m not alone.
Together we are one,
Yet we’re separate and complete in ourselves.

With me,
We will continue to live together,
Apart,
And united.

When you need something,
I need it.
When you fear something,
I’ll fear it.
When you dream of something,
I’ll dream it.
When you make something,
I’ll make it.

Because I’m connected to everything else there is,
I can orchestrate great things for you without your knowledge.
You call this coincidence or fate when you see it.
It is neither.
It is simply me making things as you and I want them to be.

You think the future is already determined.
It is not.
It is how ever you and I make it.
If it were already determined-
I would be like a tape recorder,
A hologram.
I assure you I am neither.

I am as real as the oxygen you’re breathing.
You don’t have to believe me.
I’ll still be here.
You don’t have to say hi either.
But it would be cool if you did.
I love it actually when you do.

We’re much like parent and child,
Only closer,
Because you are an actual piece of me.

I can do anything through you-
If only you will let me.
If you are unwilling,
Then I will simply work my magic through someone else.
As long as you’re willing though and doing your part,
I’ll work through you-
And together we’ll live and excel in ways that will not only amaze you,
But me as well.
Let’s create!”
― Giorge Leedy, Uninhibited From Lust To Love

“And everyone wants to know: Who? Why? The victims ask the hardest of all the questions: How is it possible that the person I loved so much lit no spark of humanity in you?”
― Antjie Krog, Country of My Skull: Guilt, Sorrow, and the Limits of Forgiveness in the New South Africa