Whereas Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born to the Thembo Dynasty in Mvezo in the Umtata District of Transkei, South Africa, on July 18, 1918; Whereas, as a young man, Nelson Mandela became an activist through acts of boycotts, strikes, civil disobedience, and other forms of noncooperation during the fight against apartheid, a system of racial segregation in South Africa; Whereas, as a leader of the African National Congress (ANC) and the African National Congress Youth League, Nelson Mandela and 9 of his fellow ANC leaders were arrested, charged, and tried for plotting the violent overthrow of the Government of South Africa; Whereas, on June 12, 1964, 8 of the accused, including Nelson Mandela, were sentenced to life imprisonment; Whereas, from 1964 to 1982, Nelson Mandela was incarcerated at Robben Island Prison, off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa, before being moved to the maximum-security Pollsmoor Prison in the Cape Town suburb of Tokai; Whereas, during the years of his imprisonment, Nelson Mandela became widely accepted as the most significant Black leader in South Africa and a symbol of resistance against apartheid, discrimination, and injustice; Whereas a global movement to release Nelson Mandela and end the South African system of apartheid included international economic sanctions like Public Law No. 99–440, the Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986, and the condemnation of apartheid by countless leaders, artists, intellectuals, and activists; Whereas at 4:14 p.m. on February 11, 1990, Mandela was released from the Victor Verster prison in Paarl after being a political prisoner for 27 years, 6 months, and 1 week; Whereas the release of Nelson Mandela was a defining moment in the global effort to end apartheid; Whereas, in 1993, Nelson Mandela and South African President F.W. de Klerk accepted the Nobel Peace Prize and pledged to continue working towards a democratic, nonracial South Africa