„it always seems impossible until it’s done“.
On May 10, 1994, Nelson Mandela was sworn in as the first black president of South Africa.
You often here that collecting autographs is the practice of collecting writings of famous persons. For me, collecting autographs means first and foremost dealing with the acquired piece and to view/perceive the autograph holistically and put it into the historical context. I am primarily concerned with the emotional connection. I myself was in front of Mandela's parents' house in 2013, when he passed away, attended the commemoration on the occasion of its 100th birthday in 2018 and was able to get to know the country for many years, that Mandela shaped and united.
Now holding an original document in my hands is an incredible feeling. For me, contemplating the colorful autograph is always comparable with a storytelling, reflecting a legacy. Nelson Mandela has never had enough. The man who was imprisoned in the country for 27 years, whose president he was allowed to be five years, was never fed up. He hungered for freedom, thirsted for justice, fought for reconciliation. And he made the seemingly impossible possible, saved his South Africa from a racial war, brought blacks to power and shook hands with whites. He was honored with the Nobel Peace Prize for what he did, not for what was expected to be expected of him.
Mandela once answered the question of a journalist „how the impossible task of reuniting a nation became possible“ with the single sentence „It always seems impossible until it’s done“.
Thank you Markus,
Sebastian
