On July 18, 2014, the City of Oshawa dedicated a gazebo and lookout point in Lakeview Park (and erected a plaque) to the memory of Nelson Mandela (1918-2013). Mandela became closely identified with the quest by the people of South Africa for freedom under thec oppressive apartheid regime.
His opposition to that regime (which included armed resistance) resulted in his imprisonment for 27 years. Remarkably, that ordeal seemed to leave him unscathed by the bitterness, rancor, and vindictiveness which it so easily might have engendered. Instead, he came to embody the very qualities ? dignity, compassion, forgiveness, endurance, patience, and forbearance ? that enabled Nelson Mandela to become a force for unity among South Africa?s erstwhile contentious racial and ethnic solitudes and become a statesman who was admired by people in many countries, including Canada. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, and he was elected President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. © 2015 by John Arkelian, Artsforum Magazine
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