Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul...."
William Ernest Henley
While incarcerated on Robben Island prison, Nelson Mandela recited the poem to his fellow African prisoners and was empowered by it's message of self-majesty. He was imprisoned for 27 years for fighting against the heinous crime of apartheid yet a single verse helped him survive and give hope to others around him through those troubled times. There is no greater strength than one's belief and I am proud to be dark-skinned because I believe in people like him.
" No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes naturally to the human heart than it's opposite."
-Nelson Mandela, 1995
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