Selecting Heroes: Young Mandela - The Revolutionary Years, a From Left to Write Book Club Selection

Selecting a hero can be a dangerous thing, especially - it often seems - if that person is a public figure. I know, there are plenty of good guys and gals out there, but I feel like when I bother to watch the news, it's loaded with stories of famous people's indiscretions. I could list many, but I'm not going to. That would only draw more attention to the acts or serve as a reminder of a string of disappointments in my life. And seriously, just because you can catch a football or hit a golf ball, or wax poetic about particular causes better than anyone else, doesn't mean you automatically possess other characteristics that are admirable.

I have always hoped my children would choose people they actually knew to look up to. Be it a teacher that helped them in a particular way, a friend's parent that said the right thing at the right time, or a relative that leads their life in a way my children admire. They might even choose that really smart kid sitting across the aisle from them in class, someday. It seems like these folks are safer bets for role models - and not just because they can be vetted a bit before taking on any mythical proportions. But likely, because these folks are living ordinary lives, doing possibly extraordinary things, paving the way for my children to emulate their actions.

I was excited to pick-up the book "Young Mandela: The Revolutionary Years". I slogged through it diligently getting lost in the details often. But in the end, I had trouble wrapping my head around whether I was supposed to be excited learning about Mandela opening up his first law practice that primarily served black South Africans, excited about Mandela's insistence on the anti-apartheid movement involving people from all races, or if I was supposed to be disappointed that the man had several indiscretions and seemed to basically ditch his first wife. In the end, I reminded myself that I am often disappointed by the behavior of famous men and women, who seem to let power get to their head and forget about some points of common decency. And now I wrestle with how the information in this book relates to my images forever burned in my head of Nelson Mandela - freedom fighter.

Elaine

Disclosure: I was given a free copy of the book Young Mandela: The Revolutionary Years, by David James Smith. As part of the From Left to Write Book Club, I wrote a post inspired by this book.