In 1948, justice and equality were outlawed in the country of South Africa. The people needed one voice to speak up when the world fell silent. They needed one leader to stand up when the world looked away. One man answered that call; one man who sacrificed his own future for the future of his people and transformed a nation. The story cuts back to Mandela's childhood where we see him going through school and then university and finally, to when he gets his first job as an articled clerk. The narrative focuses on him as being a positive leader and the face of change in South Africa - omitting later criticisms, like his lack of action in trying to stop the sweep of AIDS in South Africa when he was president.