Newarkers Mourn Mandela, Giant of Anti-Apartheid Movement

Nelson Mandela, the first black president of South Africa whose decades of advocacy helped topple that nation’s apartheid regime, died Thursday, according to media reports. He was 95.  

Mandela, who had been suffering from a lung ailment, had been hospitalized for several months and was being treated at his home at the time of his death.

Born in 1918, Mandela joined the African National Congress in the early 1940s. For his activities in opposition to white rule in the majority black nation, Mandela was arrested a number of times before being imprisoned in the early 1960s. After a global campaign on his behalf, he was freed in 1990, a move that signaled the end of the racially based exclusion policy known as apartheid. 

He won the Nobel prize in 1993 and was elected the nation’s first black president the following year, serving until 1999.

“Nelson Mandela was a hero for social justice and a model of leadership for me and leaders around the globe," Rep. Donald Payne (D-10) said in a statement.  "Born during the years of apartheid, he was a resilient democratic leader, peacemaker, and inspiring fighter for racial equality.   President Mandela never let his 27 years in prison deter him from doing what he knew was right by ending apartheid and bringing democracy to the country that he loved." 

"The world today has lost a great man, icon and force for peace with the passing of Nelson Mandela," said Newark mayoral candidate Shavar Jeffries. "His humanity and wisdom inspired generations to seek democracy, peace and justice. It is my hope that Mr. Mandela’s life will continue to serve as the moral compass for us all. I join the world in offering my condolences to the Mandela family."