THE former bodyguard of the late South African president Nelson Mandela has given a talk for Oxford University Hospitals as part of Black History Month.

Chris Lubbe, who is also an anti-apartheid activist, held the talk last week (October 12) named ‘Journey from apartheid to Truth and Reconciliation’.

The talk was organised by Oxford University Hospitals BAME network and sponsored by The Oxford Biomedical Research Centre has sponsored a talk organised a talk by Oxford University Hospitals BAME network as part of Black History Month.

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He said: “Wouldn’t it be great one day when we don’t have to celebrate Black History Month, when black history just becomes part of normal history and we don’t have to have a special month … I really long for that day.”

Mr Lubbe spoke movingly about being imprisoned and tortured after organising a peaceful protest and, following the release of President Mandela, being able to vote for the first time.

He also spoke affectionately about meeting Queen Elizabeth II, and how she had remembered receiving a letter he wrote to her as a boy, and how he never got her reply because it was intercepted by the authorities.

The Queen told him his letter prompted her to lobby other world leaders to push for Mandela’s release.

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Before he started his talk, the Oxford BRC’s Senior Manager, Dr Lorna Henderson, said: “We are very pleased to work closely today with the Oxford University Hospitals BAME staff network - one of our tasks as part of the strategy is to support and work closely with partners across the trust and the hospital.”

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This story was written by Gee Harland. She joined the team in 2022 as a senior multimedia reporter.

Gee covers Wallingford, Wantage and Didcot.

Get in touch with her by emailing: Gee.harland@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @Geeharland

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