Nelson Mandela International Day (or
Mandela Day) is an annual international day in honour of Nelson Mandela,
celebrated each year on 18 July, Mandela's birthday.The day was officially
declared by the United Nations in November 2009, with the first UN Mandela Day
held on 18 July 2010. However, other groups began celebrating Mandela Day on 18
July 2009.
On 27 April 2009, the 46664 concerts and
the Nelson Mandela Foundation invited the global community to join them in
support of an official Mandela Day. Mandela Day is not meant as a public
holiday, but as a day to honour the legacy of Nelson Mandela, South Africa's
former President, and his values, through volunteering and community service.
Mandela Day is a global call to action that
celebrates the idea that each individual has the power to transform the world,
the ability to make an impact.
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (18 July 1918
– 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary,
politician, and philanthropist, who served as President of South Africa from
1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black chief executive, and the first
elected in a fully representative democratic election. His government focused
on dismantling the legacy of apartheid through tackling institutionalised
racism and fostering racial reconciliation. Politically an African nationalist and
democratic socialist, he served as President of the African National Congress
(ANC) party from 1991 to 1997.
uMkhonto we Sizwe (abbreviated as MK,
Zulu for "Spear of the Nation") was the armed wing of the African
National Congress (ANC), co-founded by Nelson Mandela in the wake of the
Sharpeville massacre. Its founding represented the conviction in the face of
the massacre that the ANC could no longer limit itself to nonviolent protest;
its mission was to fight against the South African government
