WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.699 [cheers] 00:00:04.868 --> 00:00:06.936 Thank you. 00:00:07.013 --> 00:00:14.597 [cheers] 00:00:14.597 --> 00:00:16.623 Thank you. 00:00:16.623 --> 00:00:21.058 [cheers] 00:00:21.058 --> 00:00:23.991 Thank you so much. 00:00:23.991 --> 00:00:27.695 [cheers] 00:00:27.695 --> 00:00:29.813 Thank you. 00:00:29.813 --> 00:00:38.478 [cheers] 00:00:39.925 --> 00:00:45.308 To Graça Machel and the Mandela family; 00:00:45.555 --> 00:00:51.100 To President Zuma and members of the government; 00:00:51.439 --> 00:00:54.357 to heads of states and goverments 00:00:54.357 --> 00:00:57.275 -- past and present -- 00:00:57.275 --> 00:01:00.194 distinguished guests. 00:01:00.518 --> 00:01:05.139 It is a singular honor to be with you today 00:01:05.139 --> 00:01:09.539 to celebrate a life like no other 00:01:10.771 --> 00:01:13.580 To the people of South Africa 00:01:13.580 --> 00:01:22.629 [cheers] 00:01:22.907 --> 00:01:28.490 People of every race and every walk of life 00:01:28.798 --> 00:01:35.257 the world thanks you for sharing Nelson Mandela with us 00:01:35.565 --> 00:01:39.548 His struggle was your struggle 00:01:39.887 --> 00:01:44.258 his triumph was your triumph, 00:01:44.643 --> 00:01:46.676 your dignity and your hope 00:01:46.676 --> 00:01:48.709 found expression in his life and your freedom 00:01:50.743 --> 00:01:53.793 Your democracy 00:01:53.793 --> 00:01:57.604 it's his cherished legacy 00:01:59.375 --> 00:02:03.583 It is hard to eulogize any man 00:02:04.599 --> 00:02:07.153 to capture in words 00:02:07.430 --> 00:02:13.152 not just the facts and the dates that make a life 00:02:13.583 --> 00:02:17.027 but the essential truth of a person 00:02:17.351 --> 00:02:20.853 the private joys and sorrows 00:02:21.146 --> 00:02:24.068 the quiet moments and uniue qualities 00:02:24.068 --> 00:02:27.746 that illuminate someone's soul 00:02:28.654 --> 00:02:32.409 How much harder to do so for a giant of history 00:02:32.594 --> 00:02:35.463 who moved a nation towards justice 00:02:35.463 --> 00:02:41.202 and in the process moved billions around the world 00:02:41.926 --> 00:02:44.154 Born during the World War I 00:02:44.154 --> 00:02:47.005 fired from court orders of power 00:02:47.005 --> 00:02:49.859 a boy raised herding cattle 00:02:49.859 --> 00:02:53.713 and tutored by the elders of his Mambu tribe 00:02:53.713 --> 00:03:00.599 Madiba would emerge as the last great liberator of the 20th century. 00:03:01.045 --> 00:03:05.009 Like Gandhi, he would lead a resistence movement 00:03:05.009 --> 00:03:10.823 a movement that at the start had little prospect for success 00:03:11.284 --> 00:03:14.996 Like Dr. King, he would give potent voice 00:03:14.996 --> 00:03:17.592 to the claims of the oppressed 00:03:17.592 --> 00:03:21.856 and the moral necessity of racial justice 00:03:22.779 --> 00:03:25.643 He would endure a brutal imprisonment 00:03:25.643 --> 00:03:30.450 that began in the time of Kennedy and Khrushchev 00:03:30.450 --> 00:03:34.816 and reached the final days of the Cold War 00:03:35.510 --> 00:03:38.261 Emerging from prison without the force of arms 00:03:38.261 --> 00:03:40.548 he would -- like Abraham Lincoln -- 00:03:40.548 --> 00:03:41.680 hold his country together 00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:45.122 when it threaten to break apart 00:03:45.384 --> 00:03:48.805 and like America's founding fathers he would erect 00:03:48.805 --> 00:03:54.761 a constitutional order to preserve freedom for future generations 00:03:55.178 --> 00:03:59.358 A commitment to democracy and rule of law 00:03:59.681 --> 00:04:02.093 ratified not only by his election 00:04:02.093 --> 00:04:08.142 but by his willingness to step down from power after only one term 00:04:15.178 --> 00:04:18.825 Given the sweep of his life 00:04:19.979 --> 00:04:22.561 the scope of his accomplishments 00:04:22.561 --> 00:04:26.315 the adoration that he so rightly earned 00:04:26.592 --> 00:04:30.165 it's tempting -- I think -- to remember Nelson Mandela as an icon 00:04:30.638 --> 00:04:33.389 smilling and serene 00:04:33.990 --> 00:04:37.313 detached from the tawdry affairs of lesser men 00:04:37.313 --> 00:04:40.743 but Madiba himself strongly resisted 00:04:40.743 --> 00:04:43.387 such a lifeless portrait 00:04:43.648 --> 00:04:54.077 [cheers] 00:04:54.077 --> 00:04:55.400 Instead, 00:04:55.753 --> 00:05:01.277 Madiba insisted on sharing with us his doubts and his fears 00:05:01.739 --> 00:05:06.763 his miscalculations along with his victories 00:05:07.179 --> 00:05:08.931 "I am not a saint", he said 00:05:08.931 --> 00:05:15.578 "unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying." 00:05:16.747 --> 00:05:21.724 It was precisely because he could admit to imperfection 00:05:21.724 --> 00:05:25.765 because he could be so full of good humour 00:05:25.765 --> 00:05:29.972 even mischief, despite the heavy burdens that he carried 00:05:29.972 --> 00:05:32.245 that we loved him so. 00:05:32.660 --> 00:05:37.745 He was not a bust made of marble, he was a man of flesh and blood 00:05:37.745 --> 00:05:40.209 a son and a husband 00:05:40.209 --> 00:05:42.943 a father and a friend 00:05:43.174 --> 00:05:46.770 and that's why we learned so much from him 00:05:46.770 --> 00:05:49.432 and that's why we can learn from him still 00:05:49.432 --> 00:05:52.899 For nothing he achieved was inevitable 00:05:52.899 --> 00:05:56.178 in the arch of his life we see a man 00:05:56.178 --> 00:05:59.511 who earned his place in history through struggle 00:05:59.511 --> 00:06:03.600 and shrewdness and persistance and faith 00:06:05.262 --> 00:06:08.064 he tells us what is possible 00:06:08.064 --> 00:06:11.192 not just in the pages of history books 00:06:11.192 --> 00:06:14.043 but in our own lives as well. 00:06:16.810 --> 00:06:20.348 Mandela showed us the power of action 00:06:20.348 --> 00:06:25.442 of taking risks on behalf of our ideas 00:06:25.442 --> 00:06:30.682 Perhaps Mandela was right that he "inherited a proud rebelliousness 00:06:30.682 --> 00:06:34.799 a stubborn sense of fairness" from his father 00:06:35.416 --> 00:06:39.812 and we know he shared with millions of black and coloured Southafricans 00:06:39.812 --> 00:06:42.687 "the anger born of a thousand slights 00:06:42.687 --> 00:06:45.775 a thousand indignities 00:06:45.775 --> 00:06:48.863 a thousand unremembered moments 00:06:48.863 --> 00:06:51.952 a desire to fight the system that imprisoned 00:06:51.952 --> 00:06:54.447 my people", he said 00:06:55.432 --> 00:06:59.101 But like other early giants of the ANC 00:06:59.101 --> 00:07:02.026 the Zulus and the Tambos, 00:07:02.026 --> 00:07:08.342 [cheers] 00:07:08.342 --> 00:07:11.298 Madiba disciplined his anger 00:07:11.298 --> 00:07:15.688 and channelled his desire to fight into organization 00:07:15.688 --> 00:07:20.174 and platforms and strategies for action 00:07:20.174 --> 00:07:23.162 so men and women could stand up 00:07:23.162 --> 00:07:26.054 for the God given dignity 00:07:26.654 --> 00:07:30.941 Moreover, he accepted the consequences of his actions 00:07:30.941 --> 00:07:37.258 knowing that standing up to powerful interests and injustice carries a price 00:07:38.822 --> 00:07:44.104 "I've fought against white domination I've fought against black domination." 00:07:44.181 --> 00:07:46.182 [cheers] 00:07:46.182 --> 00:07:51.078 "I've cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society 00:07:51.078 --> 00:07:54.061 in which all persons live together in harmony and equal opportunities 00:07:54.384 --> 00:07:59.759 it is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve 00:07:59.759 --> 00:08:04.445 but if needs be it's an ideal for which I am prepared to die." 00:08:04.445 --> 00:08:15.185 [cheers] 00:08:15.401 --> 00:08:17.889 Mandela taught us the power of action 00:08:17.889 --> 00:08:21.904 but he also taught us the power of ideas 00:08:21.904 --> 00:08:25.773 the importance of reason and arguments 00:08:25.773 --> 00:08:28.927 the need to study not only those who you agree with 00:08:28.927 --> 00:08:32.566 but also those you don't agree with. 00:08:32.921 --> 00:08:37.391 He understood that ideas cannot be contained by prison walls 00:08:37.391 --> 00:08:41.182 or extinguished by a sniper's bullet 00:08:41.182 --> 00:08:44.556 He turned his trial into an indictment of apartheid 00:08:44.556 --> 00:08:47.162 because of his eloquence and his passion 00:08:47.162 --> 00:08:50.462 but also because of his training as an advocate 00:08:50.786 --> 00:08:55.048 He used decades of prison to sharpen his arguments 00:08:55.048 --> 00:09:00.705 but also to spread his thirst for knowledge to others in the movement 00:09:00.705 --> 00:09:04.218 and he learned the language and the customs of his oppresors 00:09:04.218 --> 00:09:07.019 so that one day he might better convey to them 00:09:07.019 --> 00:09:10.124 how their own freedom depend upon his. 00:09:10.339 --> 00:09:17.361 [cheers] 00:09:17.747 --> 00:09:23.809 Mandela has demonstrated that action and ideas are not enough 00:09:23.809 --> 00:09:25.447 no matter how right 00:09:25.447 --> 00:09:30.971 they must also be ciselled in the laws and institutions 00:09:31.495 --> 00:09:34.744 He was practical, testing his beliefs 00:09:34.744 --> 00:09:39.791 against the hard surface of circumstance and history 00:09:40.037 --> 00:09:42.934 On core principles he was unyielding 00:09:42.934 --> 00:09:46.343 which is why he could rebuff offers of unconditional release 00:09:46.343 --> 00:09:49.073 reminding the aparthaid regime 00:09:49.073 --> 00:09:53.235 that "prisoners cannot enter into contracts." 00:09:53.559 --> 00:09:56.551 But as he showed in painstaking negotiations 00:09:56.551 --> 00:10:00.147 to transfer power and draft new laws 00:10:00.147 --> 00:10:06.543 He was not afraid to compromise for the sake of a larger goal 00:10:06.543 --> 00:10:10.342 And because he was not only a leader of a movement but a skilful politician 00:10:10.342 --> 00:10:16.730 the constitution that emerged was worthy of this multi-racial democracy 00:10:16.730 --> 00:10:19.977 true to his vision of laws to protect minority 00:10:19.977 --> 00:10:28.067 as well as majority rights and the precious freedom of every Southafrican 00:10:29.283 --> 00:10:32.271 And finally Mandela uderstood 00:10:32.271 --> 00:10:36.043 the ties that bind the human spirit. 00:10:36.874 --> 00:10:40.620 There is a word in Southafrican 00:10:40.851 --> 00:10:42.134 Ubuntu 00:10:42.350 --> 00:10:48.423 [cheers] 00:10:48.654 --> 00:10:53.830 A word that captures Mandela's greatest gift: 00:10:53.830 --> 00:10:57.895 his recognition that we are all bound together in ways 00:10:57.895 --> 00:11:00.557 that are invisible to the eye 00:11:00.557 --> 00:11:03.690 that there is a oneness to humanity 00:11:03.690 --> 00:11:07.042 that we achieve ourselves by sharing ourselves with others 00:11:07.042 --> 00:11:11.723 and caring for those around us 00:11:12.200 --> 00:11:16.262 We can never know how much of this sense was innate in him 00:11:16.262 --> 00:11:22.298 or how much was shaped in a dark and solitary cell. 00:11:22.775 --> 00:11:27.935 But we remember the gestures -- large and small -- 00:11:27.935 --> 00:11:32.902 introducing his jailers as honored guests at an inauguration; 00:11:32.902 --> 00:11:37.757 taking a pitch in a springbok uniform; 00:11:38.065 --> 00:11:43.688 turning his family's heartbreak into a call to confront HIV-AIDS 00:11:43.765 --> 00:11:49.367 that reveal the depths of his empathy and his understanding 00:11:49.598 --> 00:11:53.389 He not only embodied ubuntu he taught millions 00:11:53.389 --> 00:11:56.973 to find that truth within themselves. 00:11:57.666 --> 00:12:00.055 It took a man like Madiba to free 00:12:00.055 --> 00:12:03.931 not just the prisoner but the jailer as well 00:12:04.192 --> 00:12:06.527 [cheers] 00:12:06.527 --> 00:12:08.374 to show that you must trust 00:12:08.374 --> 00:12:11.906 others so that they may trust you 00:12:11.906 --> 00:12:17.187 to teach that reconciliation is not a matter of ignoring a cruel past 00:12:17.187 --> 00:12:25.577 but a means of confronting it with inclusion and generosity and truth 00:12:25.854 --> 00:12:28.521 He changed laws 00:12:28.521 --> 00:12:32.219 but he also changed hearts 00:12:33.896 --> 00:12:36.910 For the people of South Africa 00:12:36.910 --> 00:12:41.864 for those he inspired around the globe 00:12:41.864 --> 00:12:46.079 Madiba's passing is rightly a time of mourning 00:12:46.079 --> 00:12:50.612 and a time to celebrate a heroic life 00:12:51.305 --> 00:12:54.588 But I believe it should also prompt in each of us 00:12:54.588 --> 00:12:58.595 a time for self-reflection with honesty 00:12:58.595 --> 00:13:02.557 regardless of our station or circumstance 00:13:02.557 --> 00:13:05.014 we must ask: "How well have I applied 00:13:05.014 --> 00:13:08.321 his lessons in my own life?" 00:13:12.348 --> 00:13:15.232 It's a question I ask myself 00:13:15.232 --> 00:13:18.972 as a man and as a president 00:13:19.265 --> 00:13:22.178 We know that white South Africa 00:13:22.178 --> 00:13:28.207 the United States had overcome centuries of racial subjugation 00:13:29.100 --> 00:13:31.607 As was true here, it took sacrifice 00:13:31.607 --> 00:13:33.621 the sacrifices of countless people 00:13:33.621 --> 00:13:36.221 -- known and unknown -- 00:13:36.221 --> 00:13:39.363 to see the dawn of a new day 00:13:39.810 --> 00:13:42.999 Michelle and I are beneficiaries of that struggle 00:13:42.999 --> 00:13:46.937 [cheers] 00:13:46.937 --> 00:13:54.104 But in America and in South Africa and in countries all around the globe 00:13:54.104 --> 00:13:57.273 we cannot allow our progress to cloud the fact 00:13:57.273 --> 00:14:00.946 that our work is not yet done 00:14:02.146 --> 00:14:06.811 The struggles that follow the victory of formal equality 00:14:06.811 --> 00:14:12.447 or universal franchise may not be as filled with drama and moral clarity 00:14:12.447 --> 00:14:13.959 as those that came before 00:14:13.959 --> 00:14:16.380 but they are not less important 00:14:17.011 --> 00:14:19.293 For around the world today 00:14:19.293 --> 00:14:24.022 we still see children suffering from hunger and disease 00:14:24.022 --> 00:14:26.997 we still see run down schools 00:14:26.997 --> 00:14:31.605 we still see young people without prospects for the future. 00:14:31.605 --> 00:14:33.449 Around the world today 00:14:33.449 --> 00:14:37.014 men and women are still imprisoned for their political beliefs 00:14:37.014 --> 00:14:39.946 and are still persecuted for what they look like 00:14:39.946 --> 00:14:42.518 and how they worship, and who they love 00:14:42.518 --> 00:14:44.767 and that is happening today 00:14:45.074 --> 00:14:50.899 [cheers] 00:14:51.130 --> 00:14:56.799 And so we, too, must act on behalf of justice 00:14:57.046 --> 00:15:00.956 We, too, must act on behalf of peace 00:15:01.434 --> 00:15:04.274 There are too many people who happily embrace 00:15:04.274 --> 00:15:07.712 Madiba's legacy of racial reconciliation 00:15:07.712 --> 00:15:11.445 but passionately resist even modest reforms. 00:15:11.445 --> 00:15:16.936 that would challange chronic property and growing inequality 00:15:17.213 --> 00:15:20.340 There are too many leaders who claim solidarity 00:15:20.340 --> 00:15:22.321 with Madiba's struggle for freedom 00:15:22.321 --> 00:15:25.948 but do not tolerate the same for their own people 00:15:26.285 --> 00:15:32.863 [cheers] 00:15:33.110 --> 00:15:35.698 And there are too many of us 00:15:35.698 --> 00:15:38.485 too many of us on the side lines 00:15:38.485 --> 00:15:42.519 comfortable in complacency or cynicism 00:15:42.519 --> 00:15:46.758 when our voices must be heard 00:15:47.082 --> 00:15:50.091 The questions we face today 00:15:50.091 --> 00:15:54.024 how to promote equality and justice; 00:15:54.024 --> 00:15:57.622 how to uphold freedom and human rights; 00:15:57.622 --> 00:16:01.123 how to end a conflict and sectarian war 00:16:01.123 --> 00:16:05.040 these things do not have easy answers 00:16:05.040 --> 00:16:07.833 But there were no easy answers 00:16:07.833 --> 00:16:13.156 in front of that child born in World War I 00:16:13.156 --> 00:16:15.133 Nelson Mandela reminds us that 00:16:15.133 --> 00:16:19.611 it always seems impossible until it is done 00:16:19.611 --> 00:16:22.824 South Africa shows that it is true 00:16:22.824 --> 00:16:26.275 South Africa shows we can change 00:16:26.275 --> 00:16:29.736 that we can choose a world defined not by our differences 00:16:29.736 --> 00:16:31.768 but by our common hopes 00:16:31.768 --> 00:16:35.002 we can choose a world defined not by conflict 00:16:35.002 --> 00:16:39.216 but by peace and justice and opportunity 00:16:39.216 --> 00:16:45.109 [cheers] 00:16:45.525 --> 00:16:47.725 We will never see 00:16:47.725 --> 00:16:51.945 the likes of Nelson Mandela again 00:16:52.376 --> 00:16:55.633 But let me say that the young people of Africa 00:16:55.633 --> 00:17:00.358 and the young people around the world 00:17:00.358 --> 00:17:05.013 you, too, can make his life's work your own 00:17:06.198 --> 00:17:10.415 Over thirty years ago, while still a student 00:17:10.415 --> 00:17:13.943 I learned of Nelson Mandela 00:17:13.943 --> 00:17:18.523 and the struggles taking place in this beautiful land 00:17:18.523 --> 00:17:21.606 and it stirred something in me 00:17:21.960 --> 00:17:24.769 it woke me up to my responsibilities 00:17:24.769 --> 00:17:27.246 -- to others and to myself -- 00:17:27.246 --> 00:17:30.309 and set me on an improbable journey 00:17:30.309 --> 00:17:33.081 that finds me here today 00:17:34.897 --> 00:17:39.156 and while I will always fall short of Madiba's example 00:17:39.156 --> 00:17:42.692 he makes me want to be a better man 00:17:42.692 --> 00:17:44.449 [cheers] 00:17:44.449 --> 00:17:46.243 He speaks 00:17:46.243 --> 00:17:49.124 to what is best inside us 00:17:51.448 --> 00:17:55.252 After this great liberator is laid to rest 00:17:55.252 --> 00:17:59.716 and when we return to our cities and villages 00:17:59.716 --> 00:18:03.558 and rejoined our daily routines 00:18:03.558 --> 00:18:06.924 let us search for his strength 00:18:06.924 --> 00:18:11.157 let us search for his largeness of spirit 00:18:11.157 --> 00:18:15.394 somewhere inside of ourselves 00:18:15.394 --> 00:18:18.565 and when the night grows dark 00:18:18.565 --> 00:18:22.243 when injustice weights heavy on our hearts 00:18:22.243 --> 00:18:26.572 when our best laid plans seem beyond our reach 00:18:26.572 --> 00:18:29.305 let us think of Madiba 00:18:29.305 --> 00:18:32.736 and the words that brought him comfort 00:18:32.736 --> 00:18:36.167 within the 4 walls of his cell: 00:18:36.167 --> 00:18:39.599 "It matters not how streight the gate, 00:18:39.599 --> 00:18:45.232 how charged the punishment the scroll 00:18:45.232 --> 00:18:48.356 I am the master of my fate, 00:18:48.356 --> 00:18:51.397 I am the captain of my soul." 00:18:52.228 --> 00:18:55.034 What a magnificent soul it was 00:18:55.358 --> 00:18:57.519 We will miss him deeply 00:18:58.073 --> 00:19:00.830 May God bless the memory of Nelson Mandela. 00:19:01.091 --> 00:19:04.786 May God bless the people of South Africa 00:19:05.078 --> 00:19:16.906 [cheers]