The 67-year-old actor says he was moved by Mandela's political writings as a student in the 1960s and acknowledged he was the only US actor who portrayed him in a film before the publication of his biography and release from prison in 1990.
Glover received his award late Friday at the Bahamas International Film Festival a day after Mandela's death. He earned an Emmy nomination for portraying him in the 1987 TV film Mandela.
Glover has campaigned globally for humanitarian causes and is best known for playing Los Angeles police Sgt. Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon movies.