Dear Editor,
Some of the words of the songs of Jimmy, Bunny, Frank and Bob, are pertinent to the struggles of Nelson Mandela from the beginning, during his 27 years of imprisonment and after his release.
So, let’s begin with Jimmy Cliff’s, “I’ve got a hard road to travel and rough, rough way to go. But my mind’s made up/ I can’t turn back/ My courage will see me through.” Mandela indeed had a hard road to travel and a rough, rough way to go in his tough and steadfast struggle against apartheid.
However he did not turn back having made up his mind. And at last he got through.
Next, we have Bunny Wailer’s ‘I’m the toughest.’ Nelson Mandela demonstrated to the world that he was truly the toughest, after having successfully faced the many trials of his long arduous struggles.
Frank Sinatra sang: “The record shows I took the blows.” The historical record has shown that Mandela really took some blows emotionally, mentally and spiritually, as he fought back indomitably against injustice.
And finally Bob Marley: “We are confident of the victory of good over evil.” Nelson Mandela has proven indubitably that he was confident of his victory of good over the evil of apartheid, after the system was dismantled and he won the presidency of his country.
Yours faithfully,
George Carrington