Dear Friends of the Pub Quiz,
Imagine that President Obama became so fed up with the antics of the Tea Party that he decreed that anyone who challenged the policies of the Obama administration would be labeled a “fascist.” Imagine that Obama would then declare that fascist activities and organizations were illegal, and that organized protest against the Obama administration would be prosecuted a federal offense. I bet that many of us would consider ways that we might challenge such an administration.
Such was the challenge that Nelson Mandela faced in 1948 when the white supremacist Nationalist party came to party, decreed that anyone who opposed its policies were communists, and then passed the Suppression of Communism Act. As a result of such legislation, Mandela and many other ANC leaders were arrested in 1952 and many times thereafter for their opposition to white supremacy in South Africa. As Newt Gingrich recently wrote on his website, “Mandela was faced with a vicious apartheid regime that eliminated all rights for blacks and gave them no hope for the future. This was a regime which used secret police, prisons and military force to crush all efforts at seeking freedom by blacks.” I invite you to view Gingrich’s videotaped remarks showing that he has broken with many conservatives by showing respect for Nelson Mandela.
Even though the Republican-controlled US Senate eventually overrode President Reagan’s veto of The Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986 (which imposed strict sanctions on the apartheid regime), some in the House of Representatives agreed with the South African government that Nelson Mandela was a terrorist. Future US (Vice-)President Dick Cheney was one of them, also voting later against a simple House Resolution stating that Mandela should be freed from prison.
When Mandela was freed, in 1990, he made a point of coming to northern California to thank his most ardent congressional supporter, Ron Dellums, for the congressman’s 18+ year campaign to spring Mandela from Robben Island Prison. Today in Mandela’s eight by seven foot prison cell one can see a single candle lit to represent Mandela’s hope, and his triumph over adversity. Like so many other Californians who were optimistic about a free South Africa, I got to see Mandela speak at Oakland Coliseum Stadium on June 30th, 1990. The South-African leader finished his speech that day with these words:
“IN THE MEANTIME, I want to tell you that Oakland is the last city that I am visiting in the course of my tour. Let me assure you that, despite my 71 years, at the end of this visit I feel like a young man of 35. I feel like an old battery that has been recharged. And, if I feel so young, if I feel like an old battery that has been recharged, it is the people of the United States of America that are responsible for this. It is you, the people of Oakland, the people of the Bay Area, who have given me and my delegation strength and hope to go back and continue the struggle. You must remember that you are our blood brothers and sisters. You are our comrades in the struggle. Remember that we respect you. We admire you, and above all, we love you all.”
In this the week of the passing of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, I’ve enjoyed reading all the ways that that love he showed us has been returned.
Tonight’s Pub Quiz will feature questions about Nelson Mandela. Expect also questions about automobiles, currency, hostages, the Irish town of Granard, geometry, rivers, alcoholic drinks, people who wear funny hats, US presidents, maximum absolute values, dragons, generosity and forgiveness, winter sports, singers on stage, foreign variance drains, drafts, happiness, domes, British poets, education, hell-raisers, that which we serve, dictionaries, Israeli combat troops, musical groups, the Mediterranean, ghost writers, large scale gasses, vengeful people with tiny dogs, Wales, football, and Shakespeare.
See you tonight!
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Here are five questions from last week’s quiz:
- Rich People. If he were alive today, Walt Disney would be the richest Oscar-winner of all time, with a net worth of about $5 billion. Today only two living Oscar-winners (not counting honorary prizes, such as the one Oprah won) are billionaires, and one of them is a composer. Name either man.
- Food and Drink. What is the first ingredient in gazpacho?
- Pop Culture – Music. What 22 year-old red-headed English singer-songwriter saw his song “The A Team” nominated for Song of the Year at the 2013 Grammy Awards, and spent 2013 touring as the opening act for Taylor Swift? I like one team’s answer, “Boy Ginger,” but that’s not correct.
- Sports. The name Vincent Edward Scully is most associated with what professional sports team?
- Science. What alkali metal has an atomic number of 3, and occurs in nature only in compounds?
Nelson Mandela in the cell that was once his only home.