Music icon Beyonce Knowles Carter has penned a letter to the late South African President and political prisoner Nelson Mandela days before her much celebrated performance at the Global Citizen Festival. Published in the South African newspaper Sowetan, the superstar writes a letter of affection and admiration to the global leader who died in 2013.
Check out an excerpt of the letter below:
“I first met you in 2004 for the 46664 Aids Benefit Concert in Cape Town, and the impact you have had on my life resonates with me today and every day.
Your kindness and gratitude for every experience, and your ability to forgive, are lessons I have learned and will pass on to my three children.
My entire family holds you in high regard. It is an honor for me to travel to South Africa this week in celebration of you and your efforts to right so many wrongs.
You were a strategic warrior, a bold activist and charismatic and well-loved leader. Your vision for dignity, for human rights, for peace and a South Africa free of racism and apartheid, allows us all to turn dreams into reality.
I remember taking that walk with you back to the prison on Robben Island, where you spent 18 of those 27 years behind bars.
I recall your measured but focused steps in as you recounted the stories of the struggles, the sacrifices and your resilience…”
Read the entire letter at Sowetan.
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