[WATCH] Bone-chilling speeches by freedom fighters

If you’re not in the mood to read about the meaning of Freedom Day, here are a few patriotic speeches to amp you up during this day on which we, the citizens of South Africa, celebrate our freedom.

First black President of South Africa – Nelson Mandela

Before he even became president, he had already received the nation’s blessing at his first speech after being released from prison. The following speech was recorded in 1990 – four years later, he became the first black president of South Africa. He was hailed as the father of the nation and will forever go down in history as one of the most famous people in the country.

One of the highlights of his speech and one that is still applicable today is: “The need to unite the people of our country is as important a task now as it always has been.”

First American Black President – Barack Obama

This speech made Barack Obama president. In 2004, Obama was just another Senator of Illinois, but after addressing the gallery at the Democratic National Convention, he blew the American nation away.

In his speech he said:

“There’s not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there’s the United States of America.”

In another part of his speech he said: “In the end, that’s what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism, or do we participate in a politics of hope? John Kerry calls on us to hope. John Edwards calls on us to hope. I’m not talking about blind optimism here, the almost willful ignorance that thinks unemployment will go away if we just don’t think about it, or health care crisis will solve itself if we just ignore it.”

And here is what Obama had to say about Mandela:

One of the highlights of this speech was: “He used decades in prison to sharpen his arguments, but also to spread his thirst for knowledge to others in the movement. And he learned the language and the customs of his oppressor so that one day he might better convey to them how their own freedom depend upon his.”

Martin Luther King Jr

King said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of “interposition” and “nullification” – one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers … With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And let’s not forget the young MP, Hlomela Bucwa, who blew the government away

Hlomela Bucwa, at the age of 24, was the youngest Member of Parliament who delivered a jaw-dropping speech in 2017, taking on the other Members of Parliament about their failure to be good leaders to the nation.

“We find ourselves with leaders who loot and steal from the poor, who have failed to eradicate the social ills in our communities, a government that is self-serving, oppressive and incapable of self-correction. However, we are faced with a stark reality, a reality of a collapsing basic education system that fails to teach our children the very basics, never mind how to be critical thinkers. We are taught to look for jobs and not to create them. We are taught to be employees and not employers. This is the lost generation who have been failed by the ANC-led government.”

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