Nelson Mandela in 1990
(Michel Clement, Daniel Janin/AFP/Getty Images)
When the late Nelson Mandela stood on 125th Street in Harlem in 1990, as part of a day-long visit to New York City, he invoked names from the American civil rights movement, including that of the opera singer Paul Robeson.
"Harlem signifies the glory of resistance," Mandela said, referring
to the onetime neighborhood resident. A crowd estimated in the tens of
thousands cheered at the reference. Mandela was visiting as part of an
eight-city U.S. tour in his campaign against apartheid in South Africa.
He attended a ticker-tape parade and spoke at City Hall (sister station
WNYC broadcast the speech live).
The reference to Robeson may have been obligatory, but there's
evidence that Mandela was familiar with the singer's recordings of Bach,
Schubert and other composers.
While imprisoned at Robben Island penitentiary, Mandela got to know
Helen Suzman, the noted South African anti-apartheid activist and
politician. As the story goes,
every Christmas, Suzman would send Mandela classical music records in
an effort to assuage the harsh surroundings. Although he grew up mainly
listening to popular South African music, he came to appreciate European
composers, especially Tchaikovsky and Handel. In an often-repeated
anecdote, one of Mandela's greatest pleasures was listening to classical
recordings while watching the sunset.
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