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And at that particular moment in South Africa, listening to his soft-spoken words, I was struck by his patience, his grace, and his ability to move past his 27-year imprisonment and focus completely on South Africa’s poor and disenfranchised who needed leadership, food, health care, education and housing that amounts to more than tin-roof shacks in Soweto.

For 27 years, Mandela had virtually no correspondence with the outside world as he was only allowed to receive and write a letter once every six months. The apartheid government spent years trying to bend Mandela to their will and break his spirit.

But it never happened.

At a time when Mandela could have unleashed his vengeance on South Africa’s governing body and gave in to calls for riots, Mandela was a selfless non-violent leader who transformed South Africa – and the world.

As I listened to Mandela talk about the critical needs of black South Africans, there was absolutely no bitterness in his voice, no anger, no talk of revenge, pay back or karma.

“Our struggle has reached a decisive moment,” Mandela said in a mass rally in Cape Town after his release from prison. “We call on our people to seize this moment so that the process towards democracy is rapid and uninterrupted. We have waited too long for our freedom. We can no longer wait. Now is the time to intensify the struggle on all fronts. To relax our efforts now would be a mistake which generations to come will not be able to forgive. The sight of freedom looming on the horizon should encourage us to redouble our efforts.”

I later wrote about Mandela becoming president of South Africa from 1990 to 1994. Like Dinkins, the first African American mayor of New York, Mandela was the first black president of South Africa. It was a moment in history that brought Mandela and Dinkins closer and Dinkins told me that his friendship with Mandela was one of the highlights of his life.

After my brief interview with Mandela, I wanted to savor the historic moment for years to come so I asked him for an autograph. He paused for a moment since I had nothing for him to sign. But then he was very accommodating and suggested that he sign the cover of the reporter pad on which I was documenting his words.

“To Michel Cottman. Compliments and best wishes. Mandela.”

Mandela’s autograph is framed and hangs on my wall – a constant reminder of a noble civil rights activist who was bent but never broken. His patience in prison is a true testament to how faith can overcome adversity.

I was honored to meet Mandela and walk in his world through Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town, Pretoria and Soweto, and ultimately feel the unassuming power of a simple handshake.

COMMENTARY: Nelson Mandela: A Humble Statesman With a Quiet Power  was originally published on blackamericaweb.com

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