Marking Nelson Mandela's 100th Birthday

Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit NOEL KING, HOST: Today is the 100th birthday of the late Nelson Mandela. Mandela was South Africa's first democratically elected and first black president. Now, this day is being commemorated and celebrated all over the country and beyond. And there's a new book out. It features many of Mandela's previously unpublished letters from prison, letters to his family, his friends, his associates. NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton has been reading his letters and reflecting on Mandela's legacy. (SOUNDBITE OF INAUGURAL ADDRESS) NELSON MANDELA: We must act together as a united people for national reconciliation, for nation building, for the birth of a new world. OFEIBEA QUIST-ARCTON, BYLINE: Nelson Mandela's distinctive voice rallying South Africans and preaching reconciliation, togetherness and justice. Today Mandela would have turned 100, and his message would likely be the same. (SOUNDBITE OF INAUGURAL ADDRESS) MANDELA: Let there be justice for all. QUIST