Even though his birthday was a few weeks ago now and the parties are pretty much over, it's still inspiring to look at this gallery of images from Nelson Mandela's amazing life. I remember being a freshman in high school when he was released from prison, at a time when the world really did seem like it was changing for the better (cue "Right Here, Right Now"), and how thrilling it was when he became the first black president of South Africa. Leave it to Mandela to use his birthday message to talk about the huge issues of poverty and inequal distribution of wealth still facing his country:
"There are many people in South Africa who are rich and who can share
those riches with those not so fortunate who have not been able to
conquer poverty," he said. "Poverty has gripped our people. If you are
poor, you are not likely to live long."
And what a great smile that man has always had.
In other news, NPR's Matthew Brunwasser filed an excellent story today about the CLUI's Trip to the Dump, featuring some interview clips with me. You can take a listen here
