Nelson Mandela, Conversation with Richard Stengel about meeting Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia
“That was an impressive fellow man, very impressive. It was my first time to watch…a head of state going through the formalities… the motions of formality. This chap came wearing a uniform and he then came and bowed. But it was a bow which was not a bow – he stood erect, you see, but just brought down his head…then…took his seat and addressed us, but he spoke in Amharic…Then, at the end of the conference, he saw every, each delegation…and Comrade Oliver Tambo asked me to speak for our delegation, to speak to Him And I explained to Him very briefly what was happening in South Africa…He was seated on his chair, listening like a log…not nodding, just immovable, you know, like a statue…The next time I saw Him was when we attended a military parade, and that was very impressive, absolutely impressive. And he was then giving awards…to the soldiers; everyone who had graduated got a certificate… A very fine ceremony – a very dignified chap – and he also gave medals. There were American military advisors and groups of military advisers from various countries…And so he gave medals to these chaps too. But to see whites going to a Black Monarch Emperor and bowing was also very interesting.”
