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CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, Each year, the date of July 18 is recognized as |
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Nelson Mandela International Day; in 2013, that date will also mark |
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Mr. Mandela's 95th birthday, making this a fitting occasion to |
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celebrate the life and legacy of a courageous and inspirational |
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figure who is revered around the world; and |
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WHEREAS, Born into the Tembu tribe in the Transkei region of |
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South Africa in 1918, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela earned a degree |
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from University College of Fort Hare and studied law at the |
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University of Witwatersrand; and |
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WHEREAS, In 1944, Mr. Mandela joined the African National |
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Congress, and he soon became actively engaged in resistance against |
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the racist apartheid policies of South Africa's ruling National |
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Party; as part of that effort, he helped launch the "Defiance" |
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campaign of civil disobedience in 1952; the government responded by |
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trying him for treason in the late 1950s, though he was ultimately |
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acquitted of that charge; and |
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WHEREAS, After the Sharpeville Massacre of 69 anti-apartheid |
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protestors in 1960, the ANC was banned, and Mr. Mandela began |
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advocating for armed resistance to the government; arrested in |
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1962, he was sentenced to five years of hard labor, and in a |
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separate trial that began the following year, he was sentenced to |
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life in prison; and |
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WHEREAS, From 1964 to 1982, Mr. Mandela was jailed in a small |
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cell on Robben Island, off the coast of Cape Town, and he was later |
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incarcerated at two prisons on the mainland; during his 25 years as |
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a prisoner, he endured harsh conditions while steadfastly refusing |
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to compromise his belief in justice and equal rights for all South |
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Africans; his valiant stand helped strengthen opposition to |
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apartheid, both within South Africa and around the world; and |
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WHEREAS, The anti-apartheid movement achieved one of its |
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greatest victories in 1990 when Mr. Mandela was released from |
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prison, and he soon became a key figure in the negotiations to |
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dismantle the country's unjust system of government; he received |
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the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, and the following year he was elected |
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as South Africa's president in the nation's first multiracial |
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election; and |
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WHEREAS, In 2009, the General Assembly of the United Nations |
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voted unanimously to commemorate his birthday each year as Nelson |
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Mandela International Day, an observance that emphasizes the |
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ability of individuals to effect positive change in their |
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communities; and |
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WHEREAS, Over the course of his life, Nelson Mandela has |
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followed a difficult and often lonely path in the pursuit of |
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justice; starting as an idealistic student determined to make his |
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country a better place, he went on to become a resolute and |
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determined prisoner of conscience and, finally, an admired |
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international figure who symbolizes the victory of freedom over |
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oppression; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the 83rd Legislature of the State of Texas, |
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2nd Called Session, hereby designate July 18, 2013, as Nelson |
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Mandela International Day in Texas. |