Mandela Day and Gandhi’s Departure from South Africa

July 18 is more than a date. It marks the convergence of two monumental legacies in nonviolence.

We honor Nelson Mandela, born on this day in 1918, whose unwavering stand for justice and human dignity reshaped the soul of South Africa. Mandela Day is a global call to action to uplift others through service and peace.

It also marks the anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s final departure from South Africa in 1914, where he had forged the philosophy of Satyagraha and ignited a movement that would one day free a nation.

These two leaders Gandhi and Mandela remind us that peace is lived, taught, and carried forward.

One of the most meaningful moments on our Gandhi Satyagraha Tour of South Africa was visiting the Nelson Mandela Foundation Center of Memory. There, I stood before Mandela’s handwritten journals quiet reflections from a leader who never stopped serving.

That moment remains deeply personal. In 2022, Arun Gandhi and I completed our final collaboration together, the Seeds of Light publications. He passed on May 2, 2023, just after asking me both that morning and the night before to carry forward the vision: to continue supporting AVANI and its vital work for children and women in rural India.

Mandela journaled. Gandhi journaled. Arun journaled. So must we.

Our youth journals are more than keepsakes they are vessels of memory and tools for transformation.

Explore the Legacy – Read Here

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Watch the embedded video inclusive of Mandela’s original writings:

(Video and image credit: Lynnea Bylund – The Gandhi Legacy Tour)

Learn more about the Nelson Mandela Foundation Center of Memory in Johannesburg:

Let us live in devotion to peace.