Diversity and Cultural Events

On Monday, March 8th, I had the opportunity to hear the world-known Winnie Mandela speak at the Alys Stephens Center. At first, I was not very sure who this woman was or what she was exactly famous for. Former wife of Nelson Mandela, Winnie was known for her acts and involvement in South Africa along with other parts of the world. To South Africa, along with other people of the world, Winnie Mandela is looked as "The motherhood of Africa". With her involvement in many government organizations and other groups such as, African NAtional Congress Women's League, African National Congress, and so forth, Winnie is seen as what some may call, a "hero" to many of South Africa. I did not know much about this woman until I did some research before attending the lecture and was also given a pamphlet of the life of Ms. Mandela during the lecture itself. Although she is known for her courageous acts towards people of South Africa, she also has a history of violence as well. I noticed just how serious Ms. Mandela's past interfered with her life by the amount of security at the lecture. I did feel uncomfortable at some times staring at the security wondering why so many of them were present but obviously, Winnie Mandela is liked by some and unfortuantely, hated by others. Attending this lecture, I noticed a great deal of speakers, other than Winnie Mandela, would refer to Ms. Mandela as "mommy" or "mother", which meant showing great gratitude and respect. This was a bit strange to me considering this type of act does not often occur in the city of Birmingham, let alone Alabama, unless that specific person being called "mommy" was indeed one's mother. Many people speaking at the lecture seemed to know a great deal of information of Ms. Mandela and her history and the life she has lived.
As Ms. Mandela spoke, she brought up how wonderful it was to be in the city of Birmingham considering she had always wanted to visit because she has heard so many things, good and bad. She spoke of her home land, South Africa, and how in some ways it was very different than Alabama. Winnie talked about the stereotypes that were brought up towards Alabama, such as racisim. She discussed how different racism was in South Africa than it was in the South. It is apparent that the South typically is viewed as rasicst, but Winnie seemed to notice it from a different perspective. During her whole life, Winnie was stereotyped, thrown in jail, and ridiculed for speaking her mind and acting out. Everyone that attended her lecture reffered to Ms. Mandela as someone with great imporatnce and owner of a wonderful heart. It almost seemed, to me, that the amount of honor and imporatance thrown at Ms. Mandela, some people were treating her as if she were a God. I had never seen such high significance and gratitude given to one person in my life. Like I mentioned earlier, I was not too sure of what Winnie Mandela was famous for but I was informed of every little aspect at the lecture. Winnie Mandela spoke of her home town and how much she loved to help children and those who were in need Her history shows certain characteristics of just that.