Nelson Mandela International Day Or Mandela Day is an annual international day in honor of Nelson Mandela, celebrated each year on 18 July. Many people and organizations around the world take part in many activities to promote Nelson Mandela Day. These activities include volunteering, sport, art, education, music, and culture. The first global celebration of Mandela Day was on 18 July 2009, Mandela’s 91st birthday. Mandela Day is a global call to action that celebrates the idea that each individual has the power to transform the world, the ability to make an impact.
The Mandela Day campaign message:
“Mandela has fought for social justice for 67 years. We’re asking you to start with 67 minutes.
“We would be honored if such a day can serve to bring together people around the world to fight poverty and promote peace, reconciliation, and cultural diversity” according to Mandela.
About Nelson Mandela:
Nelson Mandela was born on 18 July 1918 in the village of Mvezo in Umtata, then part of South Africa’s Cape Province. His mother was Nonqaphi Nosekeni and father Nkosi Mphakanyiswa Gadla Mandela. When Nelson was 12 years old, his father died and so he became a ward of Jongintaba at the Great Place at Mqhekezweni. He completed his B.A Degree through the University of South Africa and went to Fort Hare for his graduation in 1943. Nelson Mandela was arrested on several occasions and stood trial four times. He spent over 27 years in prison.
Nelson Mandela’s writings included:
I Am Prepared to Die
No Easy Walk to Freedom
The Struggle Is My Life
In His Own Words
Long Walk to Freedom
Nelson Mandela is known for several things, but perhaps he is best known for successfully leading the resistance to South Africa’s policy of apartheid in the 20th century, during which he was infamously incarcerated at Robben Island Prison (1964–82). He won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1993 for having led the transition from apartheid to a multiracial democracy.
Nelson Mandela is considered by many to be the father of South Africa. Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist who fought for those who were disadvantaged by the system of racial segregation. Mandela became a civil rights leader and leading many against the Apartheid government.
A friend once asked me how I could reconcile my creed of African nationalism with a belief in dialectical materialism. For me, there was no contradiction. I was first and foremost African nationalist fighting for our emancipation from minority rule and the right to control our own destiny. But at the same time, South Africa and the African continent were part of the larger world. Our problems, while distinctive and special, were not unique, and a philosophy that placed those problems in an international and historical context of the greater world and the course of history was valuable. I was prepared to use whatever means necessary to speed up the erasure of human prejudice and the end of chauvinistic and violent nationalism.
—Nelson Mandela
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 will live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to see realized. But if it needs to be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.
—Mandela’s Rivonia Trial Speech
Nelson Mandela International Day Dates
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | July 18 | Saturday |
| 2021 | July 18 | Sunday |
| 2022 | July 18 | Monday |
| 2023 | July 18 | Tuesday |
| 2024 | July 18 | Thursday |
Inspiring Nelson Mandela Quotes:
A winner is a dreamer who never gives up.
It always seems impossible until it’s done.
Man’s goodness is a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished.
You will achieve more in this world through acts of mercy than you will through acts of retribution.
I never lose, I either win or learn.
What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others.
May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.
The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.
History will judge us by the difference we make in the everyday lives of children.