CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- When the Rev. Ron English met anti-apartheid icon
Nelson Mandela in 1990, he was surprised by the revolutionary's demeanor
after a near three-decade-long stay behind bars.
English, former pastor of the First Baptist Church in Charleston, recalled meeting Mandela just two months after his release.
"Nelson Mandela came out of prison without bitterness or contempt,"
English said. "His attitude was magnificent. It was not consistent with
someone who had been locked up for 27 years.
"When we arrived, I was expecting a military escort but there wasn't. He
was so accessible and was comfortable in his own skin. He had no fear
and there was no need for him to have an entourage.
"He was compassionate and didn't live in fear," English said.
He was one of millions mourning the death of the former South Africa
president who inspired the world with his radical ideals of racial
equality and world peace.
English traveled to Mandela's home with a group of individuals
associated with the Religious Action Network. Wyatt Tee Walker led the
group and worked alongside the Episcopal Church and the Dutch Reformed
Church.
Calling it "inhumane," both churches renounced the racist apartheid structure in the 1990s and joined efforts to dismantle it.
English participated in the two Anti-Apartheid Conferences held at the
Interfaith Center of the United Nations in July 1979 and April 1989.
RAN, which was composed mostly of veterans from the American Civil
Rights Movement, joined the final push against apartheid.
"When we were in Johannesburg, we saw a mass movement happen between 3
and 7 p.m. each day," English said. "These people were not allowed to
live downtown ... they had to go back to their townships.
"Having to commute would easily make an 8-hour day turn into a 12-hour
one. This was the kind of oppression these people were faced with.
THE WORLD IN MAKINDE DAVID PERSPECTIVE
