Madiba: My Last Hero

Our impossible is only impossible because we award it impossibility. Last week, more than ever, this thought rang true for me. As I prepared to screen Gideon’s Army, a documentary that follows three public defenders, spotlighting how overworked, underpaid, and under resourced their offices are, I learned that Madiba died.

When I first heard the news, it was wrong. Regardless of how much truth the news was delivered with, it was wrong because Madiba represented the last of those willing to sacrifice everything for the betterment of those relegated to the lowest rungs of society, those deemed “less than” for no other reason than the amount of melanin in their skin, and those who made up the numerical majority, but were political and economic minorities. I was not sure if I could let him and what he stood for go.

Out of respect for his life and legacy and his personhood, I refused to sit idle while the revisionists create a satiric, watered down version of my last hero. I shall not. The articles I have read in the days since his death have truly bothered me; one overstating his ties to Hollywood, another talking about his ever peaceful spirit, and most troubling of all, an article claiming that Madiba was a peacemaker.

Let us be clear: Madiba was a revolutionist in every sense of the word, to call him anything other than this is to discount what he stood for. If we are to truly honor his important life then it should be sacrilegious to talk about him and not mention that Castro’s revolution had an ever changing effect on him. It should be heresy to disregard his desire to oppose apartheid by any means necessary. It should be socially illegal for those of us who stand to inherit so much from someone who sacrificed his most productive years to allow any agents of discourse the space to say that Madiba was anything he was not, including those who set out to make him palatable for the descendants of the oppressor.

My Nelson Rolihlahla (which means “trouble maker” ironically or divinely) Madiba Mandela said “Gandhi himself never ruled out violence absolutely and unreservedly. He conceded the necessity of arms in certain situations. He said, ‘Where choice is set between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence . . . I prefer to use arms in defense of honor rather than remain the vile witness of dishonor . . . .’” Madiba also stated “There are thousands of people who feel that it is useless and futile for us to continue talking peace and non-violence — against a government whose only reply is savage attacks on an unarmed and defenseless people. And I think the time has come for us to consider, in the light of our experiences at this day at home, whether the methods which we have applied so far are adequate.” These are not the words of a non-violent man; these are the words of a fair-seeking, justice committed, and equality pursuing reconciler. Any of us willing to look honestly at ourselves can truly do no more than revere these words, his rebellious actions, and noble life.

Last week as the Arkansas sky drizzled cold freezing rain, and we critiqued the justice system of our country, I could not help but think how many of us will resist the urge to make Madiba more palatable, how many of us would resist the notion of impossibility. Madiba died, and I cried.