Nomazengele A. Mangaliso, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Department of Sociology, Westfield State University (Photo: Westfield State University)
WESTFIELD – Following the death of Nelson Mandela, the beloved former President of South Africa who served as a global symbol of freedom for so many, the Multicultural Student Association at Westfield State University shared the sentiments of the rest of the world when planning the programming for the school’s month-long celebration of Black History Month.
In an event held yesterday in conjunction with the University’s Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Owl’s Nest room in the lower level of the Ely Campus Center played host to over 30 students and faculty gathered to celebrate the start of month-long events seeking to honor the lives and contributions of both African and African-American leaders, with a speech from WSU Professor of Sociology Dr. Nomazengele Mangaliso.
Mangaliso, who hails from South Africa, spoke of the influence Mandela and Dr. Martin Luther King had in changing the course of their respective home nations forever, on the 101st birthday of another civil rights hero, Rosa Parks.
“When you sit back and reflect on their cultural and political work, they left big shoes to fill,” she said. “MLK has been gone for almost 50 years, but his legacy lives on. And Mandela’s legacy belongs to all ages.”
The professor implored the assembled students and faculty to take heed of the lessons of the two men and to recognize situations in which they too can be “moral leaders.”
“They took stands because it had to be done, and called for the best in others,” Mangaliso said. “They understood that fighting for freedom and justice for all is expensive. They were two icons who transformed their countries.”
She took the opportunity to answer a question that was likely on the minds of many students in the audience, that being did these two giants of the civil rights movement ever meet?
“They were kindred spirits, and good political bedfellows. They could’ve (met), but I doubt it,” Mangaliso said before adding that they were most likely aware of the other’s presence in the world. “The voices of the suppressed and the oppressed have a way of hearing eachother.”
Mangaliso spoke for around a half an hour in the small room, rich with the smell of food provided by the Multicultural Student Association, and watched as the students hung on her every word before ending her speech with a question, of what King said to Mandela in the afterlife.
“‘Thank you for continuing actions of peace,'” one thoughtful student said.
The professor smiled before adding her input.
“‘Well done in transforming your corner of the world,'” said Mangaliso of what the initial heavenly interaction may’ve been, before concluding the speech with a simple adage, that justice, freedom, and the right to be happy are basic human rights.
Following a performance of Kirk Franklin’s “Now Behold the Lamb” by the University’s Urban Education Gospel Choir, Mangaliso sat down with The Westfield News to share her feelings on both the event and growing up in South Africa in the shadows of Nelson Mandela.
“When I grew up in Pietermaritzburg, he was already in prison. But our generation got to know of him because our parents spoke of him with a great deal of reverance,” said Mangaliso, who holds a Doctorate in Sociology from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, in addition to Masters degrees in Industrial Labor Relations from Cornell University and in Sociology from UMass. “We didn’t have access to his writings, but our parents spoke so much of him, it was like they were keeping him alive through the oral tradition.”
Mangaliso felt the students at the presentation were enthralled.
“They seemed really interested, almost to the point of being intensely engaged,” she said. “Students today have their own challenges, but they think seriously about the past. It’s good for younger generations to listen and read the ‘old stuff.'”
Eva Kernan, a Junior Math and Secondary Education major from Ludlow, is the President of the University’s Multicultural Student Association, and said she was glad to be a part of the event as it’s host.
“It’s great to honor people who’ve meant so much not only to the black community, but the community as a whole,” she said before concurring with Mangaliso’s sentiments on the students. “They seemed to be watching pretty intently. They appreciatively acknowledged it, I think.”
Mitchell Tynes, a Sophomore Business and Aviation Management major from Springfield who performed with the Urban Education Gospel Choir, also spoke of the impact the speech had on him as well.
“I think the speech was really hard hitting,” he said. “Hearing her speech, hearing some of the past experiences of Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela, I think there’s something that just about everyone or anyone who hears it can learn from.”
