“You could pretty much look at his life as a testament of perseverance and leadership and being able to build bridges,” Abrahams said. “And I think, from that standpoint, he’s always been somebody that I personally thought of and recognized as a tremendous leader and as a strong role model, and I think most people believe that to be the case, too.”

Dorothy Goosby, who brought a successful federal civil rights lawsuit to change the Town of Hempstead’s districting system, and became the first African-American to win election to the Town Board, said that Mandela’s push for inclusive democracy inspired her to pursue a political career.

“I don’t know anyone who withstood all of the agony and the pain that he went through, but yet he came out victorious,” Goosby said. “It did not make him an evil man; it made him want to unite people and make people grow.”

Zahid Syed, chairman of the Nassau County Commission on Human Rights, said Mandela “gave a lesson to everyone that tolerance is the most important thing.”

“Not to fight back with people, and just with your kindness and humbleness you can make those people friends,” Syed said. He ranked Mandela in moral stature among Mohandas Gandhi and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“Like Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. King, and after that we have Nelson Mandela,” Syed said. “And now I don’t know how long it will take to have another … leader like that.”

Frederick Brewington, a Hempstead civil rights attorney, said Mandela’s pursuit of equality inspired his own career. “While we mourn his passing, we must celebrate the gift that he was to world affairs,” Brewington said. “Changing a vicious cycle of segregation and apartheid into a free and united country shows what a person engaged in the struggle for justice can achieve.”