This past Dec. 5th, the world collectively suffered from the loss of one of its most influential inhabitants in history.  Anti- apartheid leader Rolihlahla Mandela (A.K.A Nelson Mandela, or Madiba as most South Africans affectionately call him) died at 95 in South Africa that Thursday night.

In the wake of his death, one of the most popular phrases spoken by journalists, politicians, and people of all walks of life is something like “let us not be sad that he died, but grateful that he lived”.  Given the fact that Mandela changed history, this is incredibly accurate.  His contributions to Africa specifically are said to be matched with George Washington’s contributions to America.

It’s shocking how little our generation knows of Nelson Mandela; even I didn’t know his full story.  If you didn’t know much about this amazing man, here’s a basic outline of the things he did:  Mandela’s biggest contribution was to the anti- apartheid movement in South Africa, which was a movement against the political policy of segregation on grounds of race.  The Republic of South Africa was ruled by the white minority before the anti- apartheid movement came about.  Mandela co-founded the African National Congress in 1944, which led a militant fight for change.  He was imprisoned for 27 years on grounds of treason.  Four years after being released in 1990, he would become South Africa’s first president in their new multi-party, free democracy.  He won the Nobel Peace Prize three years into his presidency for his work to end segregation.

Nelson Mandela’s influence on the end of prejudice lives on.  In every work to end intolerance of any kind, whether it be racial, homophobic, or sex discrimination, Mandela’s legacy lingers there.  Figures who take similar stances to his will come and they will go, and they will change the world too.  But there will never be another first black South African president, there will never be another founder of the anti-apartheid movement, and there will never be another Madiba.