NELSON MANDELA EXHIBIT (Cheri)

The portion of our trip to the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library that made me cry was the traveling exhibit dedicated to Nelson Mandela.

Mandela spent 27 years in prison in South Africa for his role fighting apartheid.  There will also be an exhibit at the library through early April about Bush's efforts towards ending apartheid.

The part that brought me to tears was the video of an old black man being carried by another man, on his back, in order to vote in South Africa's first democratic election, in 1994.  As a result, Mandela became President.

Also in this video was Bishop Demond Tutu, whom I had always imagined as a serious person, depositing his ballot, saying "Incredible, woohoo!" and doing a jig.

Photo credits:  Unfortunately, I cannot read the credits in my snapshots.

(While the language was more dramatic there, we of course have seen this same type of treatment here.)

In a dim area of the exhibit, where walls were painted concrete grey, there were two small murals like this, with the following quote:

I enjoyed a display of one of Mandela's hand-written draft letters, this one to Tony Blair.  In part, it read:

"I am keen to exchange views on the Lockerbie issue with you
before I meet President Bush.  Unlike President Clinton he will be
dealing with this matter for the first time.  He will probably
wish to be guided by you before he takes a position."