Nelson Mandela is celebrating his 90th birthday today. Mandela was arrested in 1962 in connection his work against apartheid in South Africa, and was held for 27 years before being released. During his imprisonment, mostly spent on Robben Island, Mandela became an international symbol of the anti-apartheid movement. After his release in 1990, Mandela moved towards reconciliation, and helped create the transition towards democracy in South Africa. He became that nation's first black president in 1994. In this speech given at the Oakland Coliseum in California, just four months after his release, and preserved by the Pacifica Radio Archives, Mandela thanked the international movement that struggled in solidarity against apartheid in South Africa.

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