Integrity

Dedicating the month of December to the Honorable, Nelson Mandela, my encounter with him was only through movies, the media, and a recollection of once telling an old friend that the dictionary should bare a picture of Nelson Mandela next to the word integrity.  He earnestly agreed as we sat in silence admiring his unwavering convictions, while nearing his 27^th year of imprisonment.

Thinking about Mandela’s integrity provoked a sober examination of loyalty to a cause in context to choosing imprisonment over the renunciation of one’s ideas in exchange for freedom, as everyone knows the silent answer to this examination of themselves.  

Remembering Mandela

“Without language, one cannot talk to people and understand them; one cannot share their hopes and aspirations, grasp their history, appreciate their poetry, or savor their songs.” 

― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom