TOW #12: "Nelson Mandela Saved My Life" by Kennedy Odede (via CNN.com)

     Nelson Mandela passed away just three days ago, on December 5th, 2013, and since then, there have been many responses honoring him. However, Kennedy Odede, who grew up in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya, took a different approach in his opinion article, "Nelson Mandela Saved My Life". Odede writes to anyone, though his purpose may be most applicable to people in South Africa. Odede wishes for his readers to understand that while it is important to honor Mandela for all that he did, it is also important for them to continue to uphold his ideals of equality. To demonstrate the importance of Mandela's work, Odede writes about his own personal experiences with Nelson Mandela. Odede then shows his audience the importance of continuing that work by explicitly stating what needs to happen in the world for Mandela's legacy to continue.
     In the beginning of his article, Odede tells readers about his childhood. He grew up in the Kibera slum of Nairobi, and he was extremely poor and constantly changing houses due to lack of support from his family. Odede then tells readers of a pivotal moment in his life: when an American gave him a copy of Mandela's book Long Walk to Freedom. By building background of his life through personal stories, Odede is able to give readers insight into how lost he felt as a teenager. Through this connection, readers are then able to understand the great effect Mandela had on Odede since they can see a marked difference in his life from before and after Mandela.
     At the very end of his article, Odede writes, "My fear is that we become to comfortable with his legacy – content with honoring what Mandela has stood for that we forget to carry forward his sense of urgency. ... We have lost him, and must recognize the need for a next generation of selfless and driven leaders." By previously establishing Mandela's importance to him, Odede is able to seamlessly introduce his purpose. He has already honored Mandela in his article, and so he then tells readers that it is not just important to honor Mandela – the world must also step forward and continue his legacy. Also, by explicitly stating what people must do, Odede establishes the importance of new world leaders being like Mandela – selfless and driven.
     Through his use of personal stories and an explicitly stated purpose, Odede shows readers that they need not only to acknowledge the importance of Nelson Mandela's ideals of equality but also to continue to uphold those ideals and make sure future world leaders are like Mandela.

Nelson Mandela:

Throughout his life, Mandela was able to effect a great amount of change in South Africa, such as helping to end apartheid. He was also the first democratically elected president and first black president of South Africa.

(Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/12/05/17500450-he-is-now-at-peace-nelson-mandela-dead-at-95)