Post date: Dec 06, 2013 4:27:30 PM
A minute of silence is held on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in honor ofNelson Mandela.
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 6, 2013) (NYSE) - Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) began their day Friday (December 6) with a moment of silence in honor of former South African president and civil rights leader Nelson Mandela, who passed away on Thursday at the age of 95.
The traders stood still and in silence for roughly a minute just before the start of trade.Mandela guided South Africa from the shackles of apartheid to multi-racial democracy, as an icon of peace and reconciliation who came to embody the struggle for justice around the world.
Imprisoned for nearly three decades for his fight against white minority rule, Mandela emerged determined to use his prestige and charisma to bring down apartheid while avoiding a civil war.
In 1993, Mandela was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, an honor he shared withF.W. de Klerk, the white Afrikaner leader who freed him from prison three years earlier and negotiated the end of apartheid.
Mandela went on to play a prominent role on the world stage as an advocate of human dignity in the face of challenges ranging from political repression to AIDS