Hope was gloriously alive and it pointed to a reality that would unleash the greening of the continent. The truth is that we actually have the power, the means and the wherewithal to avert an otherwise certain catastrophe of cataclysmic proportions. If we should succeed to avert this catastrophe and rekindle the hope I tasted when I was six, it will only be because something happened first in our minds and in the minds of all the men, women, and children of Africa. True change does not begin with declarations, legislation and grand action. These are its effects.
Great change occurs somewhat quietly, almost imperceptibly, but always first in the minds of people.
And not every great effect is born out of great force as many of you who have seen a mustard seed and a mustard tree can confirm. I contend that all the change that is needed and recommended by the five thematic papers at this summit could occur if something as adamant, as determined as a mustard seed was to take root in the minds of the people in this room alone. The great anthropologist Margaret Mead once said we should never doubt what a small group of thoughtful committed people can do to change the world. When commitment becomes adamant, it gives birth to an interesting form of courage. The courage in recent memory of a TransAfrica whose relentless Free South Africa Movement would force businesses, municipalities, states and finally the U.S. to join the rest of humankind in pressuring South Africa to abolish apartheid.