Nelson Mandela’s story; embrace the complexity
Yesterday, Nelson Mandela’s death reminded us of a lot of things: historical events, hope, overcoming odds, perseverance, and also complexity in the human experience.
One benefit to the Internet’s web of blogs, articles, and search-ability was how Nelson Mandela’s complex story, one that was not always encouraged by United States, politically, was shared.
Jian Ghomeshi, CBC host of Q, tweeted a moment of his interview with Professor Cornel West about how Mandela’s image was being sugarcoated to fit a simple idea:
Me: Mandela is 'Santa Clausified'?
Cornel West: 'He gets turned into this unthreatening huggable old brother w/ toys. That wasn't Mandela.'
— jian ghomeshi (@jianghomeshi) December 6, 2013
These strong words made me ponder my own human complexity, for no person is simply one thing, one idea, one constant belief.
How can we show tribute to a great man if we don’t also consider his criticism of the Iraq war, criticism of western power, criticism our own political leaders?
We are ever changing, physically, mentally and spiritually; why do we expect that the our heroes, leaders, and one’s with notoriety won’t go through transition, growth, and change?
If we embrace the holistic complexity of others, it will allow our own complexity to be embrace.
Today, we definitely feel the lose of Nelson Mandela. We should not lose the full story of this man in the headlines of our news, though. Let’s embrace the full figure.
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