176 / Nelson Mandela: Terrorist

Nelson Mandela is one of the most revered of world leaders.

For good reason.

As observed in a column printed yesterday in the San Francisco Chronicle, the African National Congress (ANC), an organization to which Mandela belonged, was classified as a "terrorist" organization. Upon his release from prison, Mandela decided to pursue a course of nonviolence, and led the successful and largely nonviolent campaign that ended apartheid.

Lawyers and human rights advocates from outside of Africa helped educate Mandela and the ANC. It is exactly this kind of work that was declared criminal by the United States Supreme Court in Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project. You can get a copy of the full decision by clicking here.