Nelson Roulihlahla Mandela is celebrating his 93rd birthday today, marking still another milestone in a life that few, perhaps not even Mandela himself, could have imagined.
The boy who, like all other boys in his rural South African village of Qunu, herded sheep and kicked around a soccer ball in the rolling hills, may have dared to dream, but in those early years of the 20th century, no young black South African like himself, even one of royal lineage, would have dreamed the dream of his journey from prisoner to president of his country and icon of the world.
And yet, the dream of freedom propelled Mandela into the practice of law and into the streets aboveground and underground and finally into the docks, challenging an unjust system that took away 27 years of his life but not his dream of freedom.
Throughout his years in prison, Mandela never wavered in his determination to free his people from their oppressive existence or compromised in his demands. CONTINUE....
As the world prepares for the first World Cup on African soil, a black American is challenging ongoing racism in European football.
By: Sherrilyn A. Ifill
Soccer teams from all over the world are playing right now in South Africa’s Confederations Cup—the group of qualifying matches leading up to next year’s World Cup in South Africa. But as teams prepare for 2010’s historic World Cup, the first on the African continent, an important legal case is unfolding in a courtroom in Belgium that may affect one ugly aspect of the game. There, a case filed by Oguchi Onyewu, a member of the U.S. national soccer team and until recently a defender on the Belgium club Standard Liege, is set to be decided, and it may have enormous precedential value.
Oprah Winfrey faced reporters in South Africa Monday for the first time since allegations of physical and sexual abuse rocked the campus of her exclusive all-girl academy.
"When I first heard about it I spent about a half-hour going around my house crying," Winfrey said at the video news conference, beamed into the country via satellite from Chicago.
"What I know is that no one — not the accused nor any persons — can destroy the dream that I have held and the dream that each girl continues to hold for herself at the school," Winfrey said. "And I am prepared to do whatever is necessary to make sure that the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls becomes a safe and nurturing and enriched setting that I have envisioned, a place capable of fostering a full measure of these girls' productivity, creativity and of their humanity."
Superintendent Andre Neethling, head of the police's child protection unit in Gauteng province, told reporters after the video conference that 27-year-old former dormitory matron Virginia Tiny Mokgobo has been charged with 13 counts of indecent assault, assault and criminal injury committed against at least six students aged 13-15 and a 23-year-old at the school. She entered a plea of not guilty.
"There were at least three cases of serious indecent assault and these escalated for roughly four months," Neethling said.
Mokgobo, who was taken into custody Thursday (Nov. 1), was freed on 3,000 rand ($458) bail Monday after a brief court appearance. She left the Sebokeng magistrate court, south of Johannesburg, with a blanket covering her head. The court said the case was postponed to Dec. 13 to allow for further investigations.
Winfrey told reporters that this experience "has been one of the most devastating, if not the most devastating experience of my life" and she is currently in the midst of "cleaning house."
"We are removing the dorm parents, and as I have said to the girls, (we are) cleaning house from top to bottom," said Winfrey, who has herself suffered sexual abuse as a child. "It has shaken me to my core."
The 53-year-old talk show host praised students who came forward to report the alleged abuse as showing the kind of leadership qualities she hoped to foster in the school.
"My experience with child predators is that no one ever, ever abuses just one child," said Winfrey.
As previously reported, Winfrey has given the students cell phones so that the girls can contact her directly with any future problems. The billionaire philanthropist is furious with staffers who allegedly ignored the students' complaints of abuse.
"Knowing what I know now the screening process was inadequate even though I was not directly responsible for recruiting dorm parents," she told the packed room of journalists listening to the video conference. "No, I don't think as a school we have failed the girls. I feel there are systems within the school that failed the girls. I don't feel that it has harmed my personal reputation because I have done nothing wrong."
Oprah Winfrey was in South Africa again Sunday to meet with parents of the students at her all-girls academy and beg for their forgiveness in the wake of sexual abuse allegations at the school.
"I've disappointed you. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry," the talk show host reportedly told families during the emergency meeting at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in Henley-on-Klip, south of Johannesburg.
A "dorm parent" has been accused of sexually fondling one of the students. Other pupils say they were physically abused by the woman. Another student said the matron grabbed her by the throat and threw her against a wall. There are also allegations that the authority figure swore and screamed at them.
The alleged incidents were exposed when one of the students ran away from the school because the reported abuse had become too much to bear. South African police and the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offenses Unit have opened an investigation.
Winfrey canceled appointments and flew to South Africa twice in the past few weeks to meet with parents and check in on the investigation. In addition to the matron suspected of being involved, Winfrey also placed the principal and at least one other matron on leave two weeks ago, reportedly for failing to notify authorities of girls' complaints sooner. Only the principal was on paid leave, according to a South African newspaper.
The TV host, who has spoken openly about being abused as a child, gave the students her personal telephone number, e-mail address and her postal address so that they could contact her at any time, day or night.
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