Nelson Mandela is a hero to the African people and truly a good leader to the South Africans. Why? Because he protested and he also lead protesters and rebellions against the European leaders. But he was still not heard so he took a big stand, though he put his family in danger and his own son was against him working for the whites as an officer. And, even though he lost half his family, he never gave up on his nation. Losing his family made him angry with Europeans more than ever. Now he really had to take a stand this time. This was more personal than ever before. He tried to plead with them but that wasn't good enough. The white rulers wanted war and that was what he was going to give them. However, he wasn't going to have to go to war because when he returned to South Africa he was arrested and imprisoned for 15 years just because he was a honest man who spoke about what was going on. He was determined to help black South Africans win their freedom and also said, "Freedom is coming tomorrow" which are words of hope and encouragement to his African people. Mandela is a hero because he would have given up his life for his people.