Friday morning's visit to the Apartheid Museum in southern Johannesburg was a heartrending, thought-provoking, moving look at South Africa's era of segregation and oppression. How ugly and dreadfully sad to see how this gorgeous country was once spoiled and degraded by man's inhumanity to man. I'm grateful to have visited here no matter my sorrow as I viewed the exhibits.
The beauty of this awful story is that hope emerges out of the abyss. "Never, never, and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another. Let freedom reign. God bless Africa." These are the famous words of Nelson Mandela in 1994 during his inauguration as president of the new South Africa.
And then this truly remarkable man set about creating a "collective imagination" that bought into in reconciliation, generosity and forgiveness. He believed and helped others understand that every citizen had been victimized by the policy of apartheid, and he led this divided country towards a true working democracy.
I am humbled and feel so privileged to be here to see "the world's first negotiated revolution" and its fledgling democracy at work!
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