Ndaba Mandela, the grandson of Nelson Mandela and co-founder of the Africa Rising Foundation, will be the 21st keynote speaker for the Fannie Lou Hamer Human & Civil Rights Symposium at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8, in the Stockton Performing Arts Center.
Ndaba is the co-founder and chairman of the Mandela Institute for Humanity, where he lifts up the next generation of African leaders and fights for the end of HIV/AIDS. His recent book, “Going to the Mountain: Life Lessons from My Grandfather, Nelson Mandela,” is the first-ever to tell Nelson Mandela’s life through the eyes of the grandson who was raised by him. Nelson Mandela was a worldwide anti-apartheid activist and leader who served as South Africa’s first Black president from 1994 to 1999 and the first head of the country elected in a fully representative democratic election.
This year’s symposium, titled “Generation Next: New Voices in the Fight for Social Justice,” will include additional speeches by Stockton President Joe Bertolino and faculty from Stockton’s Africana Studies program, as well as musical performances and a poetry recitation. There will be a panel discussion and audience Q&A session following Ndaba Mandela’s speech.
Past keynote speakers include Shirley N. Weber, California’s first Black secretary of state; Keisha Blain, a historian and author of “Until I Am Free: Fannie Lou Hamer’s Enduring Message to America”; and former New Jersey Lt. Governor Sheila Y. Oliver.
This event is sponsored by the Africana Studies program, the Unified Black Students Society, the Office of the Provost, The Council of Black Faculty and Staff, the Office of the President, the Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity and the Office of Student Development.
