Comrade Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela -1918-2013

[Starry Messenger]

http://morningstaronline.co.uk/a-aae9-Comrade-Nelson-Rolihlahla-Mandela-1918-2013

It will be difficult this weekend to find a political commentator to speak ill of Nelson Mandela, but it was not always so.

The man dubbed a communist terrorist by Margaret Thatcher is now portrayed as everyone's grandfather, a loveable old man with a twinkle in his eye and a kind word for everyone.

We owe it to history to step beyond this one-sided picture and to proclaim the reality that Mandela was a revolutionary, committed to the liberation of South Africa from colonialism and imperialism.

He was firm in his views but flexible enough to discuss disagreements and to admit he was wrong when convinced of a case.

This applied to his initial anti-communism after he joined the African National Congress Youth League in 1944, working with Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo, Anton Lembede, Peter Mda and others to radicalise the ANC, moving from petitions and delegations to civil disobedience, stayaways and other forms of mass action.

<snip>

SACP confirms Nelson Mandela was a member

http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/politics/2013/12/06/sacp-confirms-nelson-mandela-was-a-member

FORMER president Nelson Mandela was a member of the South African Communist Party’s (SACP’s) central executive committee at the time of his arrest in 1962, the SACP and the African National Congress (ANC) confirmed on Friday.

Even though it had always been denied, the ANC and the SACP confirmed that Mr Mandela had served on the party’s central executive committee in their statements paying tribute to the antiapartheid icon. There had been much debate about the issue among historians and academics.

SACP deputy general secretary Solly Mapaila on Thursday said he was a member of the party, but it was denied at the time for "political reasons".

"There was a huge offensive by the oppressive apartheid regime at the time against communists. They portrayed the ANC as a communist organisation, but it was not," he said.

<snip>

[JimboBillyBubbaBob]

1. Who cares/

I will call him comrade.

[Starry Messenger]

2. I was posting it in a positive light.

The right wing are screaming about it, but they always did anyway.

[JimboBillyBubbaBob]

4. Let them scream, that's what they do.

I would deem it an honor to call him comrade. The man changed history by his simple presence. That's pretty cool.

[socialist_n_TN]

3. I just posted something on FB about this. Apparently O'Reilly......

on Faux Noise was going on about Mandela being a "communist" and several posters were pooh-poohing it. I told them that O'Reilly, THIS ONE TIME, was basically right, Mandela was AT THE LEAST, influenced by Marx and Engels. It was all over what he believed and stood for.

Then I said something about it not necessarily being a dirty word.

[Starry Messenger]

5. I was googling looking for a link for this story--

it's like the internet threw up. They were calling him a Communist even before there was confirmation, so it isn't like this changes anything for the right-wing. They'll call anyone to the left of Franco a communist! Even the Pope got it this month. LOL.