During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for, and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.

South African Black nationalist and statesman Nelson Mandela, whose long imprisonment (1962–90) and ascent to the presidency (1994–99) symbolized the aspirations of his country’s Black majority, was born this day in 1918.