Memories of Mandela
Perhaps the clearest summation of Nelson Mandela comes from the honorary degree citation Harvard presented to the then-South African president in 1998. “Conscience of a people, soul of a nation,” it said, “he has brought forth freedom from the crucible of oppression and inspired, by his courageous example, the better angels of our nature.” Harvard scholars and leading Africanist thinkers gathered at Sanders Theatre on Tuesday afternoon to remember and celebrate the life and heroic legacy of the anti-apartheid activist and inspirational world leader who died in December at age 95. The event, “Meanings of Mandela,” was hosted by the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, and its director, Henry Louis Gates Jr., the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor. President Drew Faust, who opened the event, invoked the memory of Mandela’s glorious and historic convocation, calling the occasion “one of the most unforgettable days in the history of Harvard.” While the 25,000 people who...