27 years couldn't cage a revolution, 21,000 deaths couldn't erase a revelation. Nothing can stop an idea whose time has come.  "its a long walk to freedom", Mandela said. It's a walk we have to continue. 

This is an African story, 27 years in a prison cell and a nation still loved a man. 27 years in absence, his great spirit was never forgotten. From the confines of a cold and dark cell, his passion still fueled a revolution, for 30 years... 30 YEARS! You can't arrest a revolution, you can never imprison an idea. Nothing can stop an idea whose time has come.

This can only happen in Africa, Mandela's wife and daughter led the revolution while their father was away. The people recognized it, for they valued the family unit, they accorded it its importance in the whole spectrum of things, something deeply embedded in our value System. 37 years in darkness and the people still loved their leader. Sweet! This is an African story.

We are a beautiful people, aren't we? 

After a solitary spiritual journey at Robin Island, he just showed up and tuned the oans "I forgave them. Despite the whole ordeal, despite stealing 27 years off me life, taking me away from my children, my people, imprisoning my wife..blah blah blah... I forgave them." What!/#4@?? Who does that? That's just deep! Alone in his cell for such a long time, all pretense was stripped away, all fear fell away, and he was left with only his African soul and his African dream. Freedom. Restoration. 

Nothing can stop an idea whose time has come. African Renaissance is the era upon Africa, Africa stepping into the fullness of her glory, her intelligence, and richness and unleashing her home grown creativity, turning creativity into innovative reality, innovation into productivity, productivity into life improvement.  African Re-birth, like literally, like Jesus-born-again kinda turn-around, to a Mandela-like way of thinking ---Restoration. 

With his brilliant mind and tender loving heart, Mandela showed us the truth about who we are as Africans, he showed us what we are capable of. One African, just one, rallied the world to his cause, the Free Mandela campaign  rang all across the world. One African broke the yoke of institutionalized racism and united 40 million people of different ethnicity.  

One African taught the world what it really means to forgive, what it really means to pick yourself up, pick your people up from the dust, and start a new beginning, and rebuild and restore black Africans to their rightful glory without disturbing anyone else's glory. The re-birth of a nation, the rebirth of a continent. A new way of thinking for Africa. African Renaissance.

It is deep in us, it's engraved in our DNA, we don't have to search for an answer out there, the answer to our problems sleeps deep in us, we need to awaken it, we need to stir it up. It is in our forgotten past.The same blood that built the Egyptian pyramids is the same blood flowing in us. We can restore our continent. We can do it. Together we can.

Mandela found his path. A testament to what an African can be. Each one of us needs to find our own, and leave our own unique mark on the canvas of the world. The world needs us, it needs us to be who we are, to add in our own unique contribution. All of Mandela's education fell on the foundation of his unique wisdom from the Xhosa tribe. Lets not short-change the Universe, we are necessary.