Abstract

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (1918–2013) attained worldwide recognition through dedicating his life to the decolonial struggle for freedom and peace. His life of struggle and legacy reflect a deep commitment to nationalist decolonial humanism as an antidote to racist/imperial/ colonial/apartheid dehumanization. Mandela’s politics and philosophy of liberation manifested the desire for a world governed by what the Caribbean scholar Eduardo Mendieta depicted as “politics of life with others and for others.” ¹ What drove this type of politics is “the will to live” rather than the “will to power.” ²