Edmund G. Brown Jr., governor of California in the United States issued a statement today that in honor of Nelson Mandela, Capitol flags will be flown at half-staff.

Governor Brown stated: “Nelson Mandela fought heroically for freedom and a truly democratic society. His courageous life shows what’s possible when one acts on his convictions.”

San Francisco mayor Edwin M. Lee also issued a statement on the passing of former President of South Africa and human rights leader Nelson Mandela, saying Mandela fought against injustice and oppression to build a free South Africa that set off a global movement. His life has been an inspiration to all who are helping change the world for the better, and his legacy has a profound impact in our City and our residents.

Historically, to the people in California, Nelson Mandela means a lot. After he was released from a South African prison in 1990, he paid a visit to the United States.

As described in the New York Times, on June 30,1990, a crowd of 58,000 Californians packing the Oakland Coliseum to see him and turning it into a sea of black, green and yellow banners of the African National Congress. He told the crowd, ''Despite my 71 years, at the end of this visit I feel like a young man of 35. I feel like an old battery that has been recharged. And if I feel so young, it is the people of the United States of America that are responsible for this.''With the Oakland crowd cheering, Mandela pledged that they would make history together.

It’s reported that in 1986, California became the largest government in the U.S. to require divestment of South Africa-related investments - $11 billion at the time to oppose South Africa's racist apartheid system. Union workers in San Francisco refused to unload the South African cargo ship Nedlloyd Kimberley in 1984.

During his visit in 1990, Mandela praised the union workers at the Coliseum, saying, "They established themselves as the front line of the anti-apartheid movement in the Bay Area."