Rolihlahla - First Draft

In the summer months of 1918,

far south in the depths of winter 

a baby was born named 

Rolihlahla - troublemaker.

In the Yuletide month of 2013, 

far south in the warmth of summer 

an old man died 

named Nelson. 

He was named Nelson by a woman who was not his mother 

or grandmother 

or sister 

or aunt 

or cousin

or friend. 

He was named Nelson because his skin was dark.

Because his skin was dark they painted his name white.

A teacher painted him Nelson 

And the world liked the colour- a nice, white name for a clever black boy. 

But underneath the layers of lacquer, Rolihlahla lay 

quietly (at first). 

Troublemaker. 

Nelson Mandela, Mandiba Mandela was a hero, a great man
And so much for than that.

He was Rolihlahla - troublemaker. 

Today I remember the whole man. 

I strip off the layers of polite speech and sound,

Benevolent words from world leaders, 

Who wanted him wiped away when he was trouble

But who rub what's left of his life into their own suited skins 

Now he is Nelson.  

I strip away the thickness of quaint image,

Smiling with the Spice Girls,

Soft white hair, soft hands, soft folds of skin around his eyes,

Smiling, always smiling. 

And slowly,

As the paint is peeled back

There is a gaze of steel, 

Forged from his iron name

in the flames of division. 

Rolihlahla.

The one we don't want to see. 

We don't want to see the whole man. 

We don't want to see the fighter, the work, the anger, the pain.

So we look at an old man's smile,

bask in the comfortable shade of his painted name

and avoid the steady stare beneath

That challenges us to stand up 

For that which we know to be true

and change the world. 

That challenges us to to stand up 

For that which we know to be true

and be destroyed.

That tells us that we must stand

We have to stand

If we want a better world. 

But we are afraid to cause trouble, to wash away the layers of paint and find what burns below. 

We are afraid. 

"A great light has gone out in the world. Nelson Mandela was a towering figure in our time: a legend in life and now in death - a true global hero." - David Cameron

We call him Nelson - a nice, white name for a clever black boy.

We call him hero, champion, a great light. 

But his name is Rohlihla. 

Today I remember the whole man
And challenge myself to stand.

******

Rejected verses that I quite like, but haven't found a way to fit in... yet!

Nelson Mandela was a great man.

No. He was so much more than that. 

He was troublemaker, aggressor, adulterer.

He was stubborn, determined, inspiring, powerful. 

Nelson Mandela was a man who did great things.

But great deeds are so quickly destroyed in death

Not in the loss of life but in the passing of the flame. 

His legacy burns white-hot.

Don't dampen those flames with empty sentiment and heroic language. 

Don't dampen those flames by calling him a great man 

As if what he did could only be done by him and not by us because he was great and we are not, so we can go to bed at night in the comfortable knowledge that he had something that we don't have and because he was great, and we are not, we don't have to act or move we can just stay at home and watch television whilst riot and revolution rage outside.

Copyright Abigail Palache 08/12/13