Alejandro de la Fuente is a historian of Latin America and the Caribbean who specializes in the study of comparative slavery and race relations. He is the founding Director of the Afro-Latin American Research Institute at Harvard University's Hutchins Center and the faculty cochair of Harvard University's Cuban Studies Program.

• 1 "Of Flesh and Blood"An introduction from Transition's new editor, Alejandro de la Fuente3 The Dance is Not OverNobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka claims Mandela as a semi-divine avatar, but acknowledges theattendant naïveté—particularly about the depths of human evil—that sometimes came with occupying such a lofty position14 Saying Goodbye to a Global IconAdam Habib, Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Witwatersrand, suggests that the most respectful way to honor Mandela is to not lose sight of either his political shortcomings or the most difficult demands his humanitarian message makes of us27 A Critic, in RetrospectThough one of Mandela's staunchest critics, Xolela Mangcu is humble enough to admit being star struck by the great man, but still insists on the importance of infusing Mandela's anti-racial politics with a politics of racial justice and black power40 Compassion and CorruptionConstitutional law expert and public scholar Pierre de Vos recalls how his life and the lives of countless Afrikaners were transformed by Mandela's forgiveness, yet wonders whether Mandela's compassion may have ultimately set the stage for a subversion of the rule of law51 Discovering Mandela's ChildrenOn a fellowship in South Africa with her family in tow, Warren Binford examines post-colonial Africa's pursuit of stringent laws protecting the rights of children, while reflecting upon the ideal of unity amidst enduring post-apartheid inequities67 "The Algerian Army Made Me a Man"Abdeldjalil Larbi Youcef reveals startling facts about a little-known period of Mandela's life, when he was on the lam in northern Africa and received a short, yet formative, introduction to armed resistance from the Algerian revolutionary forces80 Some Monday for Sure FictionWe pay homage to Nobel Prize laureate, ANC activist—and Mandela's friend—Nadine Gordimer (1923–2014) with this story that she first published in 1965 in the pages of Transition 1898 A Snub for the AgesImmediately following his release from prison, at a time when most of the world was celebrating Mandela, Marvin Dunn tells of how the leader was rebuffed by the city of Miami, where conservative Cubans and Jews took the opportunity to air their political grievances106 Robben Island UniversityMandela was "the world's most famous (former) prisoner," and Aaron Bady explores how prison served as a necessary prerequisite for political leadership in much of post-colonial Africa, then asks us to consider in what ways Mandela may still be imprisoned120 To Think as a BoxerOffering multiple ways of viewing a famous sculpture depicting a boxing Mandela, Kurt Campbell explores not only what it means to imagine Mandela as a boxer, but also reveals how a youth spent boxing might have shaped Mandela's activism and political vision128 Fists Poetryby Paul Theroux130 Nelson Mandela's Two BodiesAddressing the ubiquity of images of Nelson Mandela, art historian Steven Nelson suggests that these pictures allow the viewer to enter into a space of hope and reconciliation for which Mandela has come to stand, even as they risk obscuring our view of the real Mandela143 The WatchmenSouth African artist Jane Alexander's uncanny, life-sized sculptures—despite their seeming inscrutability—have been embraced as some of the most significant and evocative anti-apartheid art;Transition presents a photo essay of Alexander's iconic works, with an introduction by Rebecca VanDiver148 History, Iconicity, and LoveMeghan Healy-Clancy shares an historian's review of two recent Mandela-themed films, Mandela:Long Walk to Freedom and Winnie Mandela, in which she critiques their simplified representations of the anti-apartheid struggle and, particularly, their inept handling of the roles women played in those efforts167 Mourning MandelaWith camera in hand, Christopher J. Lee took to the streets following the death of Mandela to experience and document the ways that South Africans were memorializing the passing of their hero away from the limelight of the official state-sanctioned, celebrity-infused funeral172 In the VillageReturning to his natal village in the same region that Mandela called home, Hugo Canham talks with elderly residents to get their take on Mandela's legacy and to ascertain whether they see themselves as participating in his politics of hope