Violent oppression perpetrated by the United States and South Africa upon black communities stands as a crime against humanity that still requires our efforts to exact justice.

That makes America’s first black president’s tribute to South Africa’s first black president yesterday all the more meaningful. President Obama urged us all to learn from President Mandela’s legacy and uplift human rights, human dignity, and our shared, fundamental values. In honoring the centennial of Mandela’s birth, we are called to renewed hope and to renewed action.

Read the full piece at Kings County Politics here.