Boston Celebrates Mandela ...

Editorial: We celebrate Mandela ... Monday, February 12, 1990.

Wilmot Max Ramsay, Editor-in-Chief, The UMass Times, UMass/Boston.

     Free at last ... yes, Mandela is free at last!  Thousand of Bay State residents crammed the Cathedral of St. Paul in Boston last night in celebration of the freedom of Nelson R. Mandela, renown South African anti-apartheid leader who has become an international symbol for the struggles of the oppressed the world over.

     The celebration ceremony and church service of thanksgiving was attended by Mandela family members including daughter Princess Zenani Mandela-Dlamini, her husband Prince Thumbumuzi Dlamini and children; local dignitaries and members of the African National Congress, ANC.

     A replay of Nelson Mandela's initial moments after he walked from the prison gates as a free man after serving 27 years for his activities as an anti-apartheid functionary was enacted.

     Throughout the historic broadcast, Mandela's address, from the city hall at Cape Town, was interrupted by series of ovations and shouts of "President Mandela" in obvious reference to Nelson Mandela's appearance, described by observers as "entirely presidential."

     An invitation for Mandela to visit Boston has been proposed by the city's Mayor Raymond L. Flynn who also addressed the St. Paul Church gathering which was organized by the Fund for a Free South Africa, Boston.  

     No doubt, Sunday, February 11, 1990 will be remembered as a turning point in the history of South Africa and beyond.

     Mandela who spent last night in Cape Town attended a reception hosted in his honor by civic leaders and earlier in the morning held his first news conference since his release.  Mandela is scheduled to arrive in his hometown of Soweto where jubilant supporters have camped out since over the week-end.

     Mandela's return to Soweto with his first lady, Winnie, had to be rescheduled for fear of their safety, especially, in the wake of growing rumors that Mandela might be assassinated by a pro-apartheid group.

     Nelson Mandela's almost 10,000 days odyssey behind prison bars ended yesterday.  However, there are still yet much more to be dismantled in the LAND OF HATE -- the South Africa of Apartheid.  The struggle continues!  Amand la!!!