Ask Gayleen 5 — Mandela’s Hope for the Bright Tomorrow

Interviewer: Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Interviewees: Gayleen Cornelius

Numbering: Issue 4: Everyone Has Their Specialty

Place of Publication: Langley, British Columbia, Canada

Title: Question Time

Web Domain: http://www.in-sightjournal.com

Individual Publication Date: October 30, 2019

Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2019

Name of Publisher: In-Sight Publishing

Frequency: Three Times Per Year

Words: 467

Keywords: Gayleen Cornelius, Nelson Mandela, Scott Douglas Jacobsen.

Gayleen Cornelius is a South African human rights activist from Willowmore; a tiny town in the Eastern Cape province. She grew up a coloured (the most ethnically diverse group in the world with Dutch, Khoisan, Griqua, Zulu, Xhosa Indian and East Asian ancestry). Despite being a large Demographic from Cape Town to Durban along the coast, the group is usually left out of the racial politics that plague the nation. She has spoken out against identity politics, racism, workplace harassment, religious bigotry and different forms of abuse. She is also passionate about emotional health and identifies as an empath/ humanist. Here we talk about Mandela.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: How is Nelson Mandela viewed in black, Afrikaaner, and colored communities in South Africa?

Gayleen Cornelius: Mandela is and will always be an icon. Very few people know enough about the struggles that brought them freedom. Lately for the most part his status is that of a celebrity. This is the general consensus in South Africa. Regardless of our backgrounds.

Jacobsen: How alive is the universality of vision of Mandela in the minds of South Africans?

Cornelius: In reality it is far fetched. It is the same as christians idolizing Jesus without living by his words in reality. South Africans idolize Mandela but few of them follow his example.

Jacobsen: Who has been an important bulwark against forces of repressive narrow visions of the world?

Cornelius: There has been a lot of entities and individuals pushing for various progressive reforms for decades. The civil society in South Africa is remarkably diverse. That is the best thing about our democracy.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Gayleen.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen founded In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal and In-Sight Publishing. He authored/co-authored some e-books, free or low-cost. If you want to contact Scott: Scott.D.Jacobsen@Gmail.com

Image Credit: Gayleen Cornelius.

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Based on a work at www.in-sightjournal.com and https://medium.com/question-time

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© Scott Douglas Jacobsen, and In-Sight Publishing and Question Time 2012-2020. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen, and In-Sight Publishing and Question Time with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.  All interviewees co-copyright their interview material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.