Speaking recently at the United Nation’s launch of its “Free & Equal” campaign to promote fair treatment of LGBT persons, former archbishop and South African anti-apartheid activist Desmond Tutu declared that the issue was so close to his heart that he “would refuse to go to a homophobic heaven” and instead choose “the other place.” …read more
Source: The Christian Post
The world is celebrating Nelson Mandela Day with acts of community service and messages of goodwill to the former South African president who remains hospitalized on his 95th birthday. Here are some of the international events:
UNITED NATIONS: The U.N. hosted an informal General Assembly in honor of Mandela with former United States President Bill Clinton and co-prisoner and Mandela friend Andrew Mlangeni scheduled to speak. U.N. staff also helped to rebuild homes in Long Island destroyed by Hurricane Sandy.
WASHINGTON: The Congressional Black Caucus celebrated the life and legacy of Mandela at the Emancipation Hall in the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center. House Speaker John Boehner and South Africa’s ambassador to the United States Ebrahim Rasool were among guests slated to speak at the ceremony.
NEW YORK: The Tribeca Film Institute partnered with the Nelson Mandela Foundation to commemorate Mandela Day with a video display in Times Square and a meeting in Duffy Square. A picture of a Mandela portrait by South African artist Paul Blomkamp with the words “Happy 95th Birthday Madiba!” was featured on a Times Square monitor throughout the day.
TORONTO: A community celebration featuring live music and family activities was at the Nelson Mandela Park Public School.
PARIS: The South African embassy in Paris hosts its annual Nelson Mandela Day drive to collect clothes, toys and non-perishable food items for charity. The embassy accepts donations until Aug. 31. The Hotel de Ville hosts a free exhibition, “Nelson Mandela: from Prisoner to President,” where visitors can learn about Mandela’s journey through films, photographs and sculptures. The exhibition will run through July 6.
ROME: An exhibit about Mandela’s life at an anti-racism center was visited by South Africa’s ambassador to Italy, Nomatemba Tambo.
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION: Three astronauts from the International Space Station honored Mandela in a video message that included words from Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama and Bill and Hillary Clinton, among others.
“Nelson Mandela is the symbol of what humankind must strive for: Peace, brotherhood and a common goal to better every life on this planet. Our work here on the International Space Station mirrors exactly what Mr. Mandela spent his life trying to accomplish,” astronaut Karen Nyberg said for the group.
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Wandoo Makurdi …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Few South Africans have the moral stature of retired archbishop Desmond Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who campaigned against apartheid and now laments the crime and inequality that plague the nation two decades after it cast off racist white rule.
“We can’t pretend we have remained at the same heights and that’s why I say please, for goodness’ sake, recover the spirit that made us great,” Tutu said. “Very simply, we are aware we’ve become one of the most violent societies. It’s not what we were, even under apartheid.”
This month, South Africa reopened a conversation over the extent to which the legacy of apartheid drives persistent imbalances in services and opportunities. Some argue that current leaders lean on the past to justify squandered chances to improve South Africa and even invoke the specter of apartheid for political gain.
The fresh discussion began with reported comments by National Planning Minister Trevor Manuel that South African officials should assume full responsibility for the nation’s problems and resist the temptation to continually blame apartheid.
Those include a faltering education system, an uneven record on providing basic services and allegations of corruption and cronyism that drain public faith in the government. The African National Congress, in power since the first all-race elections in 1994, has improved housing for many poor people and presides over a society that is immeasurably more tolerant than its predecessor. But the gulf between the wealthier white minority and the millions of blacks who can’t find work and live in shacks remains wide.
“While wanting to see change happening fast in every corner of the country, we are under no illusion that South Africa will automatically and comprehensively change in only 20 years. That is impossible,” President Jacob Zuma said this week. “The legacy of apartheid runs too deep and too far back for the democratic administration to reverse it in so short a period.”
Zuma has pointed to old inequities, noting white South Africans earn far more than blacks even if political power is now in the hands of elected leaders. Yet South Africa is in “a much better place” than it was under apartheid, and is working toward real unity, devoid of racism and other forms of discrimination, said Zuma, who turned 71 on Friday.
But the grim reference point of apartheid is fading among younger voters. The general elections in 2014 will mark the first time that the leading edge of the generation born
From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/world/~3/fk01vm3cPuo/