Nelson Mandela Was Released From Prison After Serving 27 Years On This Day In 1990!

The 90's was the era of the reemergence of black pride.The release of Nelson Mandela after serving 27 long years in prison really set the tone for the early part of the decade.February 11,1990 is a very important day in history for this very reason.Here's more on the excitement that people felt on that day from BBC:

"Leading anti-apartheid campaigner Nelson Mandela has been freed from prison in South Africa after 27 years.
His release follows the relaxation of apartheid laws - including lifting the ban on leading black rights party the African National Congress (ANC) - by South African President FW de Klerk.

Mr Mandela appeared at the gates of Victor-Verster Prison in Paarl at 1614 local time - an hour late - with his wife Winnie.

Holding her hand and dressed in a light brown suit and tie he smiled at the ecstatic crowds and punched the air in a victory salute before taking a silver BMW sedan to Cape Town, 40 miles away.

People danced in the streets across the country and thousands clamoured to see him at a rally in Cape Town.


"Our march to freedom is irreversible"


Nelson Mandela


Doctors treated over a hundred people as police clashed with youths looting shops in various cities and townships and several people were reported shot dead.

Mr Mandela, the deputy-president of the ANC, appeared on the balcony of Cape Town's City Hall to speak to the 50,000 people assembled outside at 2000 local time.

He acknowledged Mr de Klerk was a man of integrity, but said: "Our struggle has reached a decisive moment. Our march to freedom is irreversible."

"Now is the time to intensify the struggle on all fronts. To relax now would be a mistake which future generations would not forgive," he continued."(END OF EXCERPT)Read the rest here.

Did Simon Cowell Help American Idol Fantasia Barrino Keep Her House?

Simon Cowell is the mean,nasty British judge from American Idol.He almost seems to despise all human beings.But,it may all just be an act.Rumor has it that he is the mysterious benefactor that saved Fantasia Barrino's house from foreclosure.I'm glad that she got all of her ducks lined up in a row.And now that her finances are straight,Fantasia is taking care of one lingering,unresolved issue.Here's more from MTV:

"But there's one landmark the 24-year-old R&B belter hasn't reached that nags at her — finishing high school. See, Fantasia dropped out of Andrews High School in High Point, North Carolina, in ninth grade and two years later gave birth to her daughter, Zion Quari Barrino.

But now, according to E! Online, Fantasia is going back to school for the sake of her daughter. "I've been talking about it for so long," Fantasia said. "I have a lot of young people who look up to me, like my 15-year-old brother and 7-year-old daughter. It's something that I really need to do and that I want to do."

After months of speculation and rumor, the third-season "Idol" winner also confirmed that she's gotten her financial affairs back in order after facing the possible foreclosure and auction of one of her homes. "I had to sit back for a while and had to get some things settled," she explained. "I had been with a lot of people not doing what they said they were going to do. I didn't have time to sit back and cry. I didn't have time to go to a mental-health counselor. I had to keep my sh-- on straight — excuse my language! — and handle my business, because it's not just about me. It's about me and my whole family."

She's reached an agreement to keep the home — though did not confirm rumors that "Idol" judge Simon Cowell helped her out of her financial jam — and said she's focused on keeping off the 20 pounds she recently lost and finishing up her third album, which she hopes to release later this year. Oh, and she's shopping a reality-TV show about her life. "(END OF EXCERPT)Read the entire article here.

What a great friend she is for supporting Jennifer Hudson!I love that two,beautiful black women with such immense talent have chosen to be friends instead of rivals.

KKK Member Apologizes To John Lewis 48 Years After Beating Him!

This is an apology that took a lifetime to be spoken.48 years after brutally beating John Lewis,a KKK member was so moved by President Obama's historic win that he wanted to say sorry to the civil rights activist.I think that this is a good example of racial progress that more folks need to follow.Even though it took Elwin Wilson so long to admit his wrongdoing,I'm glad that having a black president caused a racist man to self-reflect & realize the error of his ways.It's never to late to say you're sorry.John Lewis has proven that by accepting his apology.Here's more on this unusual story from The Boston Herald:

"Elwin Wilson was an unabashed racist, the sort who once hung a black doll from a noose outside his home. John Lewis was a young civil rights leader bent on changing laws, if not hearts and minds, even if it cost him his life.

They faced each other at a South Carolina bus station during a protest in 1961. Wilson joined a white gang that jeered Lewis, attacked him and left him bloodied on the ground.

Forty-eight years later, the men met again — this time so Wilson could apologize to Lewis and express regret for his hatred. Lewis, now a congressman from Atlanta, greeted his former tormentor at his Capitol Hill office.

"I just told him that I was sorry," Wilson, 72, said in a telephone interview Wednesday as he traveled home to Rock Hill, S.C. For years, he said, he tried to block the incident out of his mind "and couldn’t do it."

Lewis said Wilson is the first person involved in the dozens of attacks against him during the civil rights era to step forward and apologize. When they met Tuesday, Lewis offered forgiveness without hesitation.

"I was very moved," said Lewis. "He was very, very sincere, and I think it takes a lot of raw courage to be willing to come forward the way he did. ... I think it will lead to a great deal of healing."

Wilson said he had felt an urge to voice his remorse for years. He talked about his past activities a few weeks ago with a friend, and the friend asked him where he thought he might go if he died.

"I said probably hell," Wilson said. "He said, ’Well, you don’t have to.’

Wilson’s apology was first reported by The (Rock Hill, S.C.) Herald. After reading an article about local black civil rights leaders reacting to President Barack Obama’s inauguration, he and another former segregationist called the paper saying they wanted to apologize.

The paper aired their comments and documented an emotional meeting with the local activists at a former whites-only lunch counter in downtown Rock Hill, where Wilson had antagonized demonstrators during a 1961 sit-in.

After meeting with the local activists, Wilson realized that Lewis must have been the young black man he had attacked at the bus station that same year, when a bus carrying two Freedom Riders rolled into town. The riders were Lewis, who is black, and the late Albert Bigelow, who was white. Neither pressed charges over the assault.

Wilson didn’t know that Lewis, who was 21 at the time, had since become one of the most influential Democrats in Congress."(END OF EXCERPT)Read the rest here.