Text Tuesdays – Prose – “Invictus” – by William Ernest Henley

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The poem that was inspirational to Nelson Mandela

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

The manuscript Blue Lines is the fictional coming of age narrative of a young California woman Key Yemaya Walker, and her 2 year growing journey through school, love, and life period piece, written by Kenneth Suffern, Jr., taking place at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill between the years of 1997 – 1998. Loosely based on true events, and experiences during that time, told through the eyes and voice of the main female protagonist, a freshman first attending the school.

Blue Lines Blog -Seeing Nelson Mandela in Atlanta 6/27/1990

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1918, 6/27/1990, African National Congress, Alma E. Hill, Anti-Apartied, Apartied, Atlanta, Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta Journal, Atlanta Journal & Constitution, Blue Lines, Blue Lines Blog, Bobby Dodd Stadium, Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Tech, Grant Field, Hot, iPhone 5, iPhone Post, Jailed, Jay-Z, July, July 19th, Key Yemaya Walker, Mandela, Mark Sherman, Mvezo, Nelson Mandela, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, President, Prisoner, Rolihlahla Mandela, Sam Walker, South Africa, Stadium, Steve Harvey, Summer, Thonnia Lee

“…lunch with Mandela…” ~ Jay-Z actually just played.

Commemorating this day 23 years ago. My family and I braves the Atlanta heat to see a recently freed Nelson Mandela during his visit which took place at Bobby Dodd Stadium, at Grant Field on the campus of Georgia Institute of Technology, known to many of you as Georgia Tech.

The attached article is from the Atlanta Journal & Constitution from that day 6/27/1990.

Enjoy a piece of history.

Atlanta opens heart to Mandela: 50,000 cheer ANC leader at stadium
NEW HERO: “Our parents experienced Martin Luther King. Our generation is experiencing Nelson Mandela, ” one Atlantan said.
By Ron Taylor, Joseph Albright

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlantans endured oppressive heat, police barricades, shoving matches and long schedule delays Wednesday to get a glimpse of Nelson Mandela, the South African anti-apartheid leader who has enjoyed a hero’s welcome in each U.S. city he has visited.

At Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium, about 50,400 people cheered as Mr. Mandela linked his people’s struggle against racial discrimination to the civil rights movement in the United States.