In the 1980s, international pressure calling for the Mandela's release built.  Finally, in 1989, F.W. de Klerk was elected president of South Africa and began the work to end apartheid and transform the nation into a multi-racial democracy.  In February 1990, he ordered Mandela's release from prison.  Three years later, the two were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their work to "break the vicious circle that their country was caught up in." 

The following year, in South Africa's first multi-racial election, Nelson Mandela won 62% of the votes.  On May 10, 1994, he was inaugurated as the country's first black president. 

 Things just got worse following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Four months later, Korematsu's family was sent to Tanforan Racetrack where they awaited transfer to an internment camp. Korematsu refused to go. He was, after all, an American citizen, and didn't think the "government would go as far as to include American citizens to be interned without a hearing," he later recalled. 

 However in May 1942, Korematsu was arrested. He was found guilty of violating military orders and sent to Tanforan to await internment. With the help of the Northern California ACLU, Korematsu appealed his case to the U.S. Supreme Court - and lost in a 6 to 3 decision - in 1944. The government argued his internment was not based on racism and that the Army had proof that Japanese residents were signaling enemy ships and prone to disloyalty. Four decades later, his conviction was invalidated by a federal judge on factual grounds. Research had uncovered Justice Department documents stating that the government’s evidence contained “intentional falsehoods” about the security threat. 

 In 1998, Korematsu was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and this year - on January 30 - California celebrated the first Fred Korematsu Day. 

To learn more about the unrest in Egypt & beyond, try the following resources:

While I am a few days late in posting this tribute, I can't imagine a better one.  The video above was produced by Dennis Noack, an eighteen year-old senior at Beaverton, Oregon's Arts & Communication Magnet Academy for the community's 10th annual celebration honoring the Civil Rights leader's legacy.

To learn more about the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, try the following resources:

Today, the day after Thanksgiving, marks the third annual the National Day of Listening.  And while the observance is an unofficial one started by NPR's StoryCorps, it does serve as a reminder to take the time to record the stories of our families and friends.  It is also the perfect opportunity for teachers to think about how to use oral histories in their classrooms.

There are a number of online teachers' guides for conducting an oral history project, including Using Oral History (Library of Congress), What Is Oral History (History Matters), and Gathering the Forgotten Voices (Tulane University). In addition, StoryCorps has also developed a list of Great Questions that can be adapted for a classroom oral history project.

To find oral history projects available on the internet, try the following resources:

This seems to be the appropriate time to share information about one very peculiar American tradition, the presidential pardon of the Thanksgiving turkey...On Wednesday, 24 November 2010, President Obama pardoned  a pair 45 pound birds named "Apple" and "Cider." According to President Obama, they were chosen from a group of 25 turkeys during a competition "that involved strutting their stuff before a panel of judges, with an eclectic mix of music playing in the background."

• 10 Thanksgiving Myths Dispelled
• Comparing Stories of the First Thanksgiving (New York Times)
• The History of the Presidential Turkey Pardon from CBS News
• The National Archives Celebrates Thanksgiving (National Archives)
• Presidential Pardon from Infoplease
• Presidents and Their Turkey (Newsweek)
• The Year We Had Two Thanksgivings (Library of Congress)