, economic and social oppression of the nation 's black majority . His commitment to nonviolent change was tested , however , in March of 1960 when black protestors in the township of Sharpeville were fired upon by South African police as they gathered to protest a law that required all black citizens to carry passbooks at all times . Sixty-nine people were killed and more than 180 were injured in the clash . The Sharpeville Massacre sparked riots , strikes and protest demonstrations across South Africa , and the government declared a state of emergency . But the massacre also highlighted the tragedy of apartheid to the rest of the world . The United Nations condemned the massacre , and its security council convened on April 1 , 1960 , to consider the ravaging effects of apartheid on South Africa 's people . Inside the country , Mandela and his colleagues reconsidered the use of violence to further their cause for freedom . Mandela formed the revolutionary group Spear of the Nation In 1961 and was named its commander in chief . He slipped out of South Africa for military training in Algeria in 1962 but was arrested soon
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Former South African President Nelson Mandela toiled for 27 years in South African prisons before gaining his freedom and leading his nation from white minority rule to full democracy . In the process , he became an international symbol of strength and hope . Mandela became South Africa 's first black president in 1984 . This month he celebrates his 90th birthday with a lavish , star-studded concert in London that confirms his enduring status as a revered global icon . But his journey from young protester to political prisoner to leader of his nation has not been without heartache and personal loss . Mandela was born in 1918 in the South African village Qunu . He was the son of the chief councilor to a Thembu chief , and he soon became passionate about political reformation , founding the African National Congress Youth League in 1944 with lifelong friend Oliver Tambo . Mandela 's natural leadership skills pushed him front and center during the ANC 's 1952 Defiance Campaign , which urged South African citizens not to cooperate with certain laws deemed discriminatory . Mandela urged nonviolent solutions to the South African government 's political