Exploration 11

     "...it will mark a great step forward in history and also serve as a common pledge of the peoples of the world to fight racism, wherever it occurs and whatever guise it assumes."

-Nelson Mandela (pg 630, paragraph 4)

     This passage reminds me of one of the things that Martin Luther King Jr. said in one of his speeches. It so perfectly sums up the mood of the entire speech, of Nelson's entire life, as well as the life of many civil rights and anti-racism activists. I really like this part of the speech, because it is so true. People like Nelson Mandela and MLK did hunt down racism in the world. Mandela in Africa, and MLK in the US. This part of the speech is important to me because I feel that even today in is necessary to hunt down the remaining racism and injustice in the world, wherever it is. Even today in the Middle East and Asia are countries that oppress their people or discriminate against a minority.

     The most interesting thing I found in my research was that Nelson Mandela's father was the chief of a native African tribe. It is interesting that still today there are parts of Africa the contain primitive tribes or tribes that have not adopted modern technology. I did not know that Mandela was the decedent of a once powerful South African tribe.

The 14th Dalai Lama as a child

     The Dalai Lama is the spiritual  leader of the Tibetan people. Tibet was
invaded and occupied by China. Today China claims Tibet as one of its Providences and encourages Chinese citizens to move into the Tibet region. This is slowly destroying the Tibetan sense of identity and culture. The Chinese army occupies Tibet to prevent any uprisings. I feel this is horrible. Tibet deserves autonomy again. The Chinese government needs to ask itself how they would have felt if during WWII we allowed Japan to continue to occupy China and claim China as part of its territory. I'm sure they would be just as upset as the Tibetans are.