“But in the strange and uncertain times that we are in — and they are strange, and they are uncertain, with each day’s news cycles bringing more head spinning and disturbing headlines — I thought maybe it would be useful to step back for a moment and try to get some perspective, so I hope you’ll indulge me,” – Barack Obama, as he launched into his speech.

 

Former US President Barack Obama reflected on the “strange and uncertain times” of the world in a speech to honor Nelson Mandela on Tuesday, a day after his successor, Donald Trump, upbraided the US in a news conference with Vladimir Putin. In a lecture at the cavernous Wanderers Cricket Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa, Obama told some 15,000 people that the chaos of the world gave him the opportunity to seek perspective.

Obama makes the 16th annual Nelson Mandela Lecture ahead of Mandela Day on Wednesday, in one of his highest-profile speeches and his first return to Africa since he left office in 2017.

His lecture, titled “Renewing the Mandela legacy and promoting active citizenship in a changing world,” tracks the transformation of the world, particularly in terms of race relations and human rights, over the past 100 years. “It is a plain fact that racial discrimination still exists in both the United States and South Africa,” he said.