Winnie Madikizela-Mandela personified courage and perseverance and will forever remain a force multiplier, so said Amina Mohammed – the United Nations Deputy Secretary General who delivered the keynote address at a memorial in Harlem, New York on Thursday night.
In a tribute at the historic Abyssinian Baptist Church, Mam Winnie’s life was commemorated with stories of her trials and triumphs, reflections on her resilience in the face of the Apartheid machine and the impact her legacy will continue to have despite her physical departure.
It was a celebration of her life.
As New Yorkers, particularly African Americans from Harlem felt a kinship and understanding of the adversity that Mam Winnie faced and overcame.
“Whenever she travelled here it was more than just a visiting, it was a homecoming… and she knew that the people of Harlem so deeply understood the struggle for freedom, for justice and for equality. She drew strength from your strength, your hope, your energy, you experiences and your actions. So remembering Mamma Winnie today we recognize the critical role that you played in her life on one of the greater struggles in humanity. Mamma Winnie’s connection with Harlem showed that community mobilisation was not just about what happened in Soweto, it was about every community everywhere,” says Mohammed
Mam Winnie’s longtime friend and former personal assistant Ntsiki Langford brought a very personal perspective to the proceedings.
“Winnie was a show-stopper, you just couldn’t keep walking straight, you had to turn. Her beauty, her stature, he figure, her build and her walk. And it was just unbelievable. Wherever she went, she was a show stopper,” says Langford.
The venue of the memorial was a Baptist church originally started by freed African American slaves in the early 1800s.
Pastor Calvin Otis Butts III has been with the church since 1972.
“And the truth be told, more was said about the fierceness and the courage and the tenacity of Winnie Mandela than was said about Nelson Mandela. Nelson Mandela was incarcerated, he was in jail, he was locked up, the struggle on the street was continued by Winnie Mandela. Winnie Mandela… they speak of her, those who would try to discredit this great sister as being one who led people in SA in dangerous ways. I said the young men outside of the home carried guns. I went back to look – Sojourner Truth carried a gun, Harriet Tubman carried a gun, Ida B Wells carried a gun, and some of you in here tonight got guns. These sisters were not crazy, they understood that the nature of the struggle meant that somebody – you know my old expression, nobody likes to fight but somebody better know how,” says Calvin O. Butts III
A South African businessman spoke on behalf of South Africa’s former deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka who is traveling abroad on UN business.
“She defied the system that oppressed her, she confronted it head on at every turn possible. She was a fighter risking her life with determination to bring rights and freedoms to replace violence and war. She inspired freedom fighters everywhere. I had the privilege travelling with her in the southern United States, that’s when I became aware of her stature in the African American community that we hadn’t quite understood as the African National Congress at the time,” says Chairman of the Safika Holdings, Saki Macozoma.
The South African government also used the occasion to thank Americans for their solidarity over the decades while describing Mam Winnie as the epitome of resistance against injustice.
“She became a heroine of our struggle in her own right. In 1996 she said and I quote “I am the product of the mass of my country and I’m the product of my enemy”.
She took on the oppressive apartheid regime at an enormous personal cost dedicating her life to the betterment of SA and worked towards this realization until her passing. She campaigned tirelessly for the release of Nelson Mandela, then jailed, ensuring that his memory was kept alive during his many years on Robben Island. As a nation, Mamma Winnie paved the path to follow, as such it our shared duty and responsibility to continue to build a legacy based on the principles of equality, democracy, human rights and selflessness,” explains SA ambassador to the UN, Jerry Matjila.
A second memorial in the Big Apple will be held at the United Nations General Assembly later Friday.
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