Week 4: Mandela and King

            Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela are two world leaders that I have always greatly admired. I see similarities in both of these men in the ways that they both believed in fighting in nonviolent ways. Although they fought with peace, both men were extraordinarily brave to fight for the rights of people of color knowing that their own lives were at risk. I think that there is something to be said that both of these men had formal educations.  King held a PhD and Mandela was the first in his family to be college education. Numerous activists have enacted change without a formal education, but like these two men I hope to use my education in a positive way to help others. I aspire to be a mental health nurse and I feel that there are major gaps in the mental health industry. I hope to use my education to do all that I can to make an impact in mental health.    

            An unfortunate difference between Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela was life span. King was assassinated in his forties and Mandela lived a long life of ninety-five years. However, twenty-seven of those years were spent in prison amongst inhumane conditions. If King had lived longer, I believe that there is a possibility he would have served in national government.  Both of these men had leadership qualities that will be remembered as some of the greatest of the twentieth century.   I have always enjoyed their wise words such as...
"It always seems impossible until it is done!" - Nelson Mandela
"Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend." -MLK