“… as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.” ~ Nelson Mandela (born July 18, 1918)
Mandela is South African. He was an anti-apartheid activist, leader of the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC), and was jailed in 1962. After imprisonment for 27 years, Mandela was freed from Robben Island Prison in 1990. He was elected President of South Africa and served from 1994 to 1999. He is a Nobel Peace Laureate, and an advocate for national and international reconciliation.
[Source for quotation: GabrielKortsch Tweet on Twitter October 1, 2010. A significant amount of the above information was already known to me. Biographical information and date verified through use of Wikipedia, accessed on September 13, 2010.]
Andrew Shattuck McBride, Writer's Blog 