In July 2001, Nelson Mandela sketched a series of five humble images that he felt illustrated the chapters of his much publicized life. Mandela completed his sketches in charcoal, adding this handwritten motivation as a sixth element:
“These sketches are not so much about my life as they are about my own country. I drew hands because they are powerful instruments, hands can hurt or heal, punish or uplift. They can also be bound, but a quest for righteousness can never be repressed. In time, we broke open the shackles of injustice, we joined hands across social divides and national boundaries, between continents and over oceans. And now we look to the future, knowing that even if age makes us wiser guides, it is the youth that remind us of love, of trust, and the value of life.”
He titled the work “The Struggle Series."
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