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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