View previous stories
	Nelson Mandela: "Never forget that a saint is a sinner who keeps on trying" by Robert Marquand CS Monitor   June 27, 2013   Standing in Africa today, the first black American president called the first black South African president an inspiration and a "hero."   Whether Nelson Mandela did open his eyes and smile in the hospital room when he was told days back that Barack Obama was coming for a visit isn"t verified. It is what his daughter said.   But while such a scene might seem a little too perfect or scripted, in fact that itself is not out of keeping with much of Mr. Mandela"s actual life.   His life reads like an endless series of firsts: the first in his family to go to school, the first black man to open a law firm in South Africa, the nation’s first black president.   For many, Mandela arrived on the world stage in 1990 as history turned a corner no one could imagine: China was asking itself about democracy in the tragedy of Tiananmen Square. The Soviet Union was falling like a domino, shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall. In South Africa, decades of apartheid were ending.   It was a time of miracles, rainbows, unseen hopes, and new fears. Even though it all arrived together, no one predicted it.   Mandela emerged from prison with a smile like perpetual summer and a light touch. He seemed filled with history and humility, and he waved to the world just as video and celebrity culture were hitting a peak. He bespoke the globalizing times – articulated racial equality in a way that penetrated to the heart.   “I stand here before you not as a prophet but as a humble servant of you, the people,” he said. “Your tireless and heroic sacrifices have made it possible for me to be here today. I therefore place the remaining years of my life in your hands."   Before that moment, the last time we had heard from Mandela was the year after Martin Luther King gave his “Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial. It was 1964: Mandela was in the dock, on trial, facing a death sentence, saying, “I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. It is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”   Then he disappeared. During the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, he sat in Robben Island prison; it might as well have been the dark side of the moon. Those years had little silver lining: no flowers, meetings with world leaders, plaudits, cameras, attention. No one expected the Soviet Union to collapse, for China to become the workshop of the world, or for a black man named Nelson Mandela to peaceably end apartheid.   Only recently has Mandela’s thinking at this time come to light. His many public speeches are known. But his interior self during the depths of prison have not been. Yet they bespeak a man who found the strength not to hate, and who, while savvy to the world, also had a separate “spiritual life.”   In 1975, he wrote:   Honesty, sincerity, simplicity, humility, pure generosity, absence of vanity, readiness to serve others – qualities which are within easy reach of every soul – are the foundations of one’s spiritual life.   Development in matters of this nature is inconceivable without serious introspection, without knowing yourself, your weaknesses and mistakes. At least, if for nothing else, the cell gives you the opportunity to look daily into your entire conduct, to overcome the bad and develop whatever is good in you. Regular meditation, say about 15 minutes a day before you turn in, can be very fruitful in this regard. You may find it difficult at first to pinpoint the negative features in your life, but the 10th attempt may yield rich rewards. Never forget that a saint is a sinner who keeps on trying.   That letter (which is included in his book "Conversations with Myself") was sent to his then-wife, Winnie Mandela, who had just been incarcerated in Kroonstad Prison. At the time, many of Mandela’s friends were being arrested, beaten, killed. The warden of Robben Island took to urinating in the cells and gathering places of inmates.   Yet Mandela does not talk about malice or feelings of revenge, at least in the letters. He takes a wholly different line:   The cell is a place to learn to know yourself, to search realistically and regularly the process of your own mind and feelings. In judging our progress as individuals we tend to concentrate on external factors such as one’s social position, influence and popularity, wealth and standard of education. These are, of course, important in measuring one’s success in material matters and it is perfectly understandable if many people exert themselves mainly to achieve all these. But internal factors may be even more crucial in assessing one’s development as a human being.   The potent fears of a bloody civil or racial war in South Africa never materialized. Apartheid at the time had come under terrific opprobrium in much of the world. Mandela’s idea was to reconcile differences on the basis of nonviolence, and to honor the other:   I detest white supremacy and will fight it with every weapon in my hands. But even when the clash between you and me has taken the most extreme forms, I should like us to fight over our principles and ideas and without personal hatred, so that at the end of the battle, whatever the result 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 honor and decency.   What distance the man born in 1918 had come. In a fragment of his unfinished autobiography that appears in “Conversations,” he remembers his early days with some ruefulness:   As a young man I … combined all the weaknesses, errors and indiscretions of a country boy, whose range of vision and experience was influenced mainly by events in the area in which I grew up and the colleges to which I was sent. I relied on arrogance in order to hide my weaknesses. As an adult my comrades raised me and other fellow prisoners … from obscurity … although the aura of being one of the world’s longest serving prisoners never totally evaporated. One issue that deeply worried me in prison was the false image that I unwittingly projected to the outside world of being regarded as a saint. I never was one….   http://www.nelsonmandela.org/ Visit the related web page
	In the cocoa fields of the Ivory Coast, child slavery is normal by Walk Free Campaign, Enough Project   In the cocoa fields of the Ivory Coast, child slavery is ‘normal.’ It’s routine. It’s accepted.   Children as young as 7 are sold – deprived of their childhood, ripped from their families, and subjected to routine abuse – to work long, backbreaking days picking cocoa.2 And it all stems from our love of chocolate.   While many chocolate brands have made public commitments to find the best solution, Warner Bros. is lagging behind:   An independent investigation into their supplier Behr"s Chocolates led to a failing score of 1 out of 48 possible measures to ensure their operations are slavery-free; Warner Bros. dismissed the findings of the investigation, simply stating that they were "satisfied" that fair labour practices were being used in the production of their chocolates; Given the conflicting information, outraged consumers asked Warner Bros. what steps were taken to ensure there was no slavery in Harry Potter Chocolates. Warner Bros. refused to respond.   As we head into one of the busiest times of the year for Warner Bros. theme parks. Children excited to experience the world of Harry Potter will be asking their parents to buy these chocolates. That"s why taking a stand right now will make a big impact.   Ask Warner Bros. what steps they’re taking to ensure Harry Potter chocolates are slavery-free: http://e-activist.com/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=1786&ea.campaign.id=20834&ea.tracking.id=website http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/19/slavery-in-cocoa-fields-a-horrible-normal/ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/946952.stm http://thehpalliance.org/i/campaigns/nihn/behr-scorecard.pdf   October   Just days ago, a 6-year-old boy suffocated under a load of cotton during this year"s cotton harvest in Uzbekistan.   Men, women and children forced to pick cotton will continue to suffer threats, injuries, and worse, if this form of modern slavery continues in the Uzbek cotton fields.   "A young woman died because of cotton. Who is responsible for her death?" – witness to Makhlie"s death   Makhlie should have been in a classroom days ago when the Uzbek school year began. Instead, she and her classmates were working in the cotton harvest in the fields of Uzbekistan where an accidental brush with a live electrical wire stopped her heart. She was only 16.   Makhlie should never have been in that field picking cotton, but the Uzbek government had "drafted" her, her classmates and citizens all over Uzbekistan to harvest cotton to fill quotas for suppliers like Daewoo International who then supply companies like the Target Corporation.   It"s appalling that Target continues to do business with Daewoo, a company that accounts for about 20% of all cotton from Uzbekistan, creating much of the demand that drives modern slavery in the Uzbek cotton fields. Target needs to take responsibility and ensure that none of its revenue goes to a company that knowingly profits from slave labour.   Makhlie"s classmates are still in the cotton fields - alongside doctors, teachers, students and other Uzbek citizens forced by their own government to pick the cotton that may end up in products in our neighbourhood stores. They are not only at risk of accidents like Makhlie"s, they"re often threatened and beaten if they fall behind. Last year, 18-year-old Navruz Muyzinov died after reportedly being beaten to death by police officers when he left his assigned cotton field before meeting his quota.   Over 100 apparel companies (including Target) from all over the world have taken a stand against slavery in Uzbekistan, pledging to not buy slave-picked Uzbek cotton in an effort to push the Uzbek government to end the enslavement of its people. Now, they’re being called upon to follow up on their pledge by following the Daewoo Protocol – a series of steps companies need to take to eliminate slave-picked cotton from their supply chains.   We expect more from Target, a company that takes pride in holding the highest ethical standards for itself and for its business partners. So we called and asked them to sign on to the Daewoo Protocol. Target said they didn"t need to follow the Daewoo Protocol because they have a “No Uzbek Cotton” policy. But such a policy only works if you"re willing to enforce it.   Tell Target to sign the Daewoo Protocol, a serious step toward fighting modern slavery in Uzbekistan.   If Target is truly serious about keeping slavery out of its stores, it needs to stop doing business with Daewoo by agreeing to implement the Daewoo Protocol and decline to do business with Daewoo until it takes serious steps to stop sourcing slave-picked Uzbek cotton.   Nintendo act now to get rid of conflict minerals in the supply chain   Most electronics devices contain minerals that originate in the mines of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, often called “conflict minerals.”   And as you read this, men, women and children are being threatened with force – often at gunpoint –to work in Congolese mines where conflict minerals for our electronics devices come from.   While many big electronics companies have taken steps to get rid of conflict minerals in their supply chain, Nintendo has yet to join the electronics industry audit program for conflict-free smelters nor has it required its suppliers to use only conflict-free smelters – the bare minimum requirement for taking action on conflict minerals.   We are calling on Nintendo to take the first step toward ensuring their products are free of conflict minerals mined with slavery by auditing their supply chain according to industry standards and making this information public.   So far 430,558 people have emailed Nintendo asking them to take credible steps to ensure slave-mined minerals are not in their gaming consoles – and Nintendo has not yet to respond with sufficient action.   http://www.slaveryisnotagame.com/   http://www.enoughproject.org/publications/taking-conflict-out-consumer-gadgets-company-rankings-conflict-minerals-2012 Visit the related web page
	View more stories