The world lost an extraordinary leader when former South African President Nelson Mandela died last week. The reverence for Mandela only increased when he publicly forgave his tormenters and torturers, rising above all of them as his country's first elected black president.
Mandela spent 27 years in the brutal isolation of Robben Island prison. He was 44 when he was sentenced and 71 when released. Yet it was in his senior years that he achieved the height of his power, negotiating with the white president, F.W. de Klerk, to end white rule in the majority black country. The end of apartheid signaled a new era, and the shared power agreement provided that whites would not be subjected to reprisals for their years of mistreating blacks, as well as free elections, which enabled the country to move forward.
During the anti-apartheid movement in the 1980s, Californians helped lead divestment of South African-related investments. Berkeley was one of the first municipalities to divest and later the UC system divested $3.1 billion in assets. When Mandela visited the Bay Area four months after his release from prison in June 1990, he credited California's actions with helping to drive a stake through the heart of apartheid, as Mother Jones magazine noted.
It was during his presidency that the world fully realized Mandela's commitment to human rights and his inspiring leadership style. He led the country on a path toward reconciliation and forgiveness �" after years of conflict �" and the new constitution contained explicit prohibitions against discrimination based on sexual orientation, protections that LGBT people still do not have in the United States.
Mandela served one term as president. When his successor, Thabo Mbeki, started questioning mainstream medical explanations for the cause of AIDS (due to misinformation from, among others, members of the now-defunct AIDS denialist group ACT UP/San Francisco) Mandela, who had generally refrained from directly criticizing him, disclosed that his eldest son had died of complications from the disease. Mandela spoke up of the need for safe sex and cheaper medications. He addressed the closing ceremony of the International AIDS Conference in 2002 in Barcelona, Spain.
Mandela lent his charisma to reaching out to white South Africans through sport. When the South Africa rugby team, long a symbol of white arrogance, won the World Cup final, Mandela strode onto the field wearing the team's green jersey, the New York Times reported in its lengthy obituary, and 80,000 fans, mostly Afrikaners, erupted with the chant of "Nel-son, Nel-son."
This is not to say that there are no problems in South Africa today. Many areas of the country remain impoverished. AIDS continues to affect millions of people on the continent and in South Africa. But Mandela was able to transcend chaos and assert his governing style, one based on compromise in the interest of unity, so that South Africa could emerge from apartheid.
At a time when LGBT equality was hardly the most pressing issue, Mandela, who reportedly evolved in his stance on gay rights, enabled South Africa to ratify one of the most progressive constitutions on the planet.
True leaders take on the tough challenges. And while South Africa is not perfect, Mandela was the right man for the right time and the world is a better place for his contributions.