Nelson Mandela

South Africa’s first black president Nelson Mandela passed away at his home today. He was 95. Tributes and condolences flooded social networking websites as world leaders, former presidents, celebrities and citizens of the world remembered the anti-apartheid civil rights leader.

President Obama spoke on Mandela’s passing from the White House about 45 minutes after the announcement that Mandela had died.

“He no longer belongs to us. He belongs to the ages,” said Obama, borrowing the words of Edwin M. Stanton, who, as Abraham Lincoln lay on his deathbed, said “He now belongs to the ages.”

Nelson Mandela and Michelle Obama

In his prepared speech, Obama said Mandela was “a man who took history in his hands, and bent the arc of the moral universe toward justice.”

Read the full transcript of Obama’s speech here.

Nelson Mandela Beyonce Jay Z

New Yorker cover art by @KadirNelson, who also created the album art for Drake