Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales Audiobook

About Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) won the Novel Peace Prize in 1993 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from US President George W. Bush, among many other accolades. He became the first freely elected president of South Africa in 1994. He gained popularity while in prison for being a prominent member of the African National Congress and became a leading figure in the anti-apartheid movement. He authored numerous works, including the New York Times bestseller Conversations with Myself, as well as his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom.

About the Narrators

Blair Underwood is an author and award-winning actor, director, and producer. He lives in Los Angeles, California.

Forest Whitaker is an American actor, producer, and director. He has earned a reputation for intensive character study work for films such as Bird and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, and for his recurring role as ex-LAPD Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh on the award-winning television series, The Shield. He won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA for his performance as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the 2006 film The Last King of Scotland.

Don Cheadle is an acclaimed actor who is known for the scene-stealing yet understated intensity of his performances. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Rwandan hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina in the historical drama Hotel Rwanda. Cheadle is also a dedicated activist committed to humanitarian causes, and continues to appear in major films and television.

Zondervan, part of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, is a world leading Bible publisher and provider of Christian communications. For more than eighty years, Zondervan has delivered transformational Christian experiences through its bestselling Bibles, books, curriculum, academic resources, and digital products. The company’s products are sold in multiple formats, worldwide in more than sixty countries, and translated into nearly two hundred languages.

Scarlett Johansson is an actress best known for her work in films like Lost in Translation, The Nanny Diaries, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, The Avengers, and Hitchcock. She began acting as a child, and her role in the movie The Horse Whisperer brought her critical acclaim at the age of thirteen. Also a singer, Johansson released her first album in 2008 with musician Pete Yorn.

Charlayne Woodard is a film, stage, and television actress, as well as a playwright. She is best known for her recurring roles as Janice on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Vonda on Roseanne, and Sister Peg on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She was one of the original cast members in the Tony Award–winning Broadway musical Ain’t Misbehavin’, and in 2009, starred in a one-person performance called The Night Watcher at Primary Stages in New York City. 

Gillian Anderson is an award-winning film, television, and theater actor and producer, writer, and activist. Her acting credits include the roles of Special Agent Dana Scully in the long-running and critically acclaimed drama series The X-Files, ill-fated socialite Lily Bart in The House of Mirth, and Lady Dedlock in the BBC production of Charles Dickens’ Bleak House. She also plays the role of Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier in Hannibal and is a costar on the television thriller Crisis.

Bishop T. D. Jakes is one of the world’s most widely recognized pastors and a New York Times bestselling author of over thirty books. Named by Time magazine as “America’s Best Preacher,” his message of healing and restoration is unparalleled, transcending cultural and denominational barriers. Jakes is the founder and senior pastor of The Potter’s House, which has a congregation of over thirty thousand. His weekly television outreach, The Potter’s House, and his daily television program, The Potter’s Touch, have become favorites throughout America, Africa, Australia, Europe, and the Caribbean. Jakes lives in Dallas with his wife, Serita.

Dame Helen Lydia Mirren is an award-winning English actor of stage, screen, and television. She began her acting career with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1967 and is one of the few performers who have achieved the triple crown of acting, having won the movie industry’s Academy Award for Best Actress, Broadway’s Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play, and television’s Emmy Award for her performance as police detective Jane Tennison on the acclaimed series Prime Suspect. She is also an AudioFile Earphones Award-winning narrator.

Kirk Franklin is the top gospel artist in Nielsen Soundscan history, selling more than twelve million albums and more than twenty #1 gospel hits. The host of his own talent search program, Sunday Best, he is the winner of seven Grammy awards, six NAACP awards, and many other honors. Also the author of the memoir, Church Boy: My Music & My Life, he lives in Texas with his wife and children.

Whoopi Goldberg is one of an elite group of artists who have won the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards) and is the bestselling author of the Sugar Plum Ballerina series, Book, and Is It Just Me? While performing in the Bay Area she created the characters that became The Spook Show and evolved into her hit Broadway show, Grammy Award–winning album, and the HBO special that helped launch her career. Spanning decades, Whoopi’s credits include roles in the well-known films The Color Purple, Ghosts of Mississippi, Sister Act, and Ghost. She produced the documentary Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley, and she appeared in and was one of the producers of the critically acclaimed 2022 feature film Till. She loves VW Bugs, working casinos, and comfortable clothing; is a passionate supporter of the audio arts and dedicated collector of audiobooks; and heads the Whoopfam Group, makers of Emma & Clyde, Whoopi & Maya, and other recreational and medicinal marijuana products. 

Matt Damon is an award-winning movie actor and writer. He has been nominated many dozens of times for awards for his film roles and has won twenty-five awards, including an Academy, a Golden Globe, the Humanitas Prize, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His Oscar win was for Best Original Screenplay, which he wrote for Good Will Hunting. He has also appeared on television in Will & Grace, Entourage, and 30 Rock, which earned him an Emmy nomination for Best Guest Actor. As an audiobook narrator, he was among the cast of narrators of Nelson Mandela’s Favorite African Folktales, which was the 2010 winner of the prestigious Audiobook of the Year Award, top honor from the Audio Publishers Association.

Debra Messing is a widely recognized American actress, seen in such roles as Will and Grace and Smash. Throughout her career, she has received multiple Golden Globe, Emmy, and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.

Blair Underwood is an author and award-winning actor, director, and producer. He lives in Los Angeles, California.

Jurnee Smollett-Bell began her career as a child actress appearing on television sitcoms and starring in Eve’s Bayou, which won her a Critic’s Choice Award. More recently she has starred on Friday Night Lights and is currently starring on WGN’s Underground.

Desmond Mpilo Tutu (1931-2021) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984. In 1986 he was elected archbishop of Cape Town, the highest position in the Anglican Church in South Africa. In 1994, after the end of apartheid and the election of Nelson Mandela, Tutu was appointed as chair of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate apartheid-era crimes. His policy of forgiveness and reconciliation has become an international example of conflict resolution and a trusted method of postconflict reconstruction. He is currently the chair of the Elders, where he gives vocal defense of human rights and campaigns for the oppressed.

Alan Rickman is a renowned, award-winning stage and film actor. His breakout performance was as the Vicomte de Valmont in Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Rickman is known for his film performances in Die Hard, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, the Harry Potter film series, Michael Collins, and Dogma. He has won a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, an Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. He has also garnered two Tony Award nominations.