1 e xtract from a long walk to freedom (1995) by nelson mandela this extract is taken from the last pages of the last chapter.
1
E xtract from A Long Walk to Freedom (1995)
by Nelson Mandela
This extract is taken from the last pages of the
last chapter.
I was not born with a hunger to be free. I was born free-free in every
way that I could know. Free to run in the fields near my mother's hut,
free to swim in the clear stream that ran through my village, free to
roast mealies under the stars and ride the broad backs of slow-moving
bulls. As long as I obeyed my father and abided by the customs of my
tribe, I was not troubled by the laws of man or God.
It was only when I began to learn that my boyhood freedom was an
illusion, when I discovered as a young man that my freedom had already
been taken from me, that I began to hunger for it. At first, as a
student, I wanted freedom only for myself, the transitory freedoms of
being able to stay out at night, read what I pleased, and go where I
chose. Later, as a young man in Johannesburg, I yearned for the basic
and honorable freedoms of achieving my potential, or earning my keep,
of marrying and having a family-the freedom not to be obstructed in a
lawful life.
But then I slowly saw that not only was I not free, but my brothers
and sisters were not free. I saw that it was not just my freedom that
was curtailed, but the freedom of everyone who looked like I did. That
is when I joined the African National Congress, and that is when the
hunger for my own freedom became the greater hunger for the freedom of
my people. It was this desire for the freedom of my people to live
their lives with dignity and self-respect that animated my life, that
transformed a frightened young man into a bold one, that drove a
law-abiding attorney to become a criminal, that turned a family-loving
husband into a man without a home, that forced a life-loving man to
live like a monk. I am no more virtuous or self-sacrificing than the
next man, but I found that I could not even enjoy the poor and limited
freedoms I was allowed when I knew my people were not free. Freedom is
indivisible; the chains on any one of my people were the chains on all
of them, the chains on all of my people were the chains on me.
It was during those long and lonely years that my hunger for the
freedom of my own people became a hunger for the freedom of all
people, white and black. I knew as well as I knew anything that the
oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed. A man who
takes away another man's freedom is a prisoner of hatred, he is locked
behind the bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness. I am not truly
free if I am taking away someone else's freedom, just as surely as I
am not free when my freedom is taken from me. The oppressed and the
oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity.
When I walked out of prison,that was my mission, to liberate the
oppressed and the oppressor both. Some say that has now been achieved.
But I know that that is not the case. The truth is that we are not yet
free; we have merely achieved the freedom to be free, the right not to
be oppressed. We have not taken the final step of our journey, but the
first step on a longer and even more difficult road. For to be free is
not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that
respects and enhances the freedom of others. The true test of our
devotion to freedom is just beginning.
I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I
have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret
that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many
more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a
view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the
distance I have come. But I can rest only for a moment, for with
freedom comes responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long
walk is not yet ended.