Word: mandelas
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Jewish groups, at least, have been muted in their response thus far, and are unlikely to mount large protests during the remainder of Mandela's trip. That will remove one potential complication from the hastily arranged tour. It was only on May 11 that 70 supporters of the antiapartheid movement, including activists, politicians, labor leaders and business people, convened in Washington to discuss arrangements. That led to the formation of an organizing committee headed by Randall Robinson, executive director of the antiapartheid group TransAfrica; Lindiwe Mabuza, chief representative of the A.N.C. in the U.S.; and the singer Harry Belafonte. Long...
...eight U.S. cities that were finally named as stopovers were chosen to serve various purposes. New York, Los Angeles and Washington were foregone conclusions -- three centers of money, clout and glitter that have sizable black communities. Boston was chosen because Senator Edward Kennedy had extended an invitation to Mandela while he was still in jail. Atlanta was included so that Mandela could visit the grave of King and honor the American civil rights movement. Detroit, Miami and Oakland offered opportunities to pay respects to the labor unions that have been staunch supporters of the antiapartheid movement...
Even with the effort to limit the demands upon his time, there were fears that Mandela would be overtaxed. His crowded American itinerary would test the stamina of a presidential campaigner, much less a frail-looking 71-year-old recovering from surgery to remove a benign cyst from his bladder. Mandela's arrival in New York from Montreal had to be delayed by two hours to give him more time to rest...
There was also some concern within Mandela's entourage that certain American politicians would take advantage of his presence and upstage him. At the top of the list was Jesse Jackson, who had a way of getting into camera range at nearly every point along Mandela's New York route. The New York-based organizers of the Harlem rally made a point of keeping Jackson off the list of speakers, despite his best efforts to be added to the program. It didn't help when the master of ceremonies told the crowd, "I know for many...
Like a media-savvy pol -- and a single-minded revolutionary -- Mandela repeated at every opportunity his simple line that because apartheid is still alive and well, it is too soon to reward Pretoria for the reforms De Klerk has made, some of which are more cosmetic than real. Mandela can also hope to return home with several million dollars in new contributions to the A.N.C. In New York a $2,500-a-ticket fund raiser hosted by Eddie Murphy, Spike Lee and Robert De Niro aimed to raise $500,000 from a celebrity crowd that included Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward...