Morris Dees
American activist
South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner (1931-2021)
Desmond Tutu was a renowned South African Anglican bishop and theologian who played a crucial role in the anti-apartheid movement. He was the first Black African to hold the positions of Bishop of Johannesburg and Archbishop of Cape Town. Tutu’s work in promoting human rights and reconciliation earned him international recognition, including the Nobel Peace Prize.
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Desmond Mpilo Tutuwas a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbishop of Cape Town from 1986 to 1996, in both cases being the first Black African to hold the position. Theologically, he sought to fuse ideas from Black theology with African theology.
Tutu was born of mixed Xhosa and Motswana heritage to a poor family in Klerksdorp, South Africa. Entering adulthood, he trained as a teacher and married Nomalizo Leah Tutu, with whom he had several children. In 1960, he was ordained as an Anglican priest and in 1962 moved to the United Kingdom to study theology at King’s College London. In 1966 he returned to southern Africa, teaching at the Federal Theological Seminary and then the University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland. In 1972, he became the Theological Education Fund’s director for Africa, a position based in London but necessitating regular tours of the African continent. Back in southern Africa in 1975, he served first as dean of St Mary’s Cathedral in Johannesburg and then as Bishop of Lesotho; from 1978 to 1985 he was general-secretary of the South African Council of Churches. He emerged as one of the most prominent opponents of South Africa’s apartheid system of racial segregation and white minority rule. Although warning the National Party government that anger at apartheid would lead to racial violence, as an activist he stressed non-violent protest and foreign economic pressure to bring about universal suffrage.
In 1985, Tutu became Bishop of Johannesburg and in 1986 the Archbishop of Cape Town, the most senior position in southern Africa’s Anglican hierarchy. In this position, he emphasised a consensus-building model of leadership and oversaw the introduction of female priests. Also in 1986, he became president of the All Africa Conference of Churches, resulting in further tours of the continent. After President F. W. de Klerk released the anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela from prison in 1990 and the pair led negotiations to end apartheid and introduce multi-racial democracy, Tutu assisted as a mediator between rival black factions. After the 1994 general election resulted in a coalition government headed by Mandela, the latter selected Tutu to chair the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate past human rights abuses committed by both pro and anti-apartheid groups. Following apartheid’s fall, Tutu campaigned for gay rights and spoke out on a wide range of subjects, among them his criticism of South African presidents Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma, his opposition to the Iraq War, and describing Israel’s treatment of Palestinians as apartheid. In 2010, he retired from public life, but continued to speak out on numerous topics and events.
As Tutu rose to prominence in the 1970s, different socio-economic groups and political classes held a wide range of views about him, from critical to admiring. He was popular among South Africa’s black majority and was internationally praised for his work involving anti-apartheid activism, for which he won the Nobel Peace Prize and other international awards. He also compiled several books of his speeches and sermons.
Desmond Tutu was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was the first Black African to hold the positions of Bishop of Johannesburg and Archbishop of Cape Town.
Desmond Tutu was one of the most prominent opponents of South Africa’s apartheid system of racial segregation and white minority rule. He stressed non-violent protest and foreign economic pressure to bring about universal suffrage.
Desmond Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and other international awards for his work involving anti-apartheid activism and promoting human rights and reconciliation.
Desmond Tutu served as the Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then the Archbishop of Cape Town from 1986 to 1996, becoming the first Black African to hold these senior positions in the Anglican hierarchy.
After Nelson Mandela’s release from prison, Tutu assisted as a mediator between rival black factions and helped facilitate the negotiations that ended apartheid and introduced multi-racial democracy in South Africa.
In addition to his anti-apartheid work, Desmond Tutu campaigned for gay rights and spoke out on a wide range of subjects, including his criticism of South African presidents and his opposition to the Iraq War.
Theologically, Desmond Tutu sought to fuse ideas from Black theology with African theology, emphasizing a consensus-building model of leadership.
In the land of my birth I cannot vote, whereas a young person of eighteen can vote. And why? Because he or she possesses that wonderful biological attribute – a white skin.
South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner (1931-2021)
You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them.
South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner (1931-2021)
Niger is not an isolated island of desperation. It lies within a sea of problems across Africa – particularly the ‘forgotten emergencies’ in poor countries or regions with little strategic or material appeal.
South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner (1931-2021)
If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.
South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner (1931-2021)
When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said “Let us pray.” We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land.
South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner (1931-2021)
Children are a wonderful gift. They have an extraordinary capacity to see into the heart of things and to expose sham and humbug for what they are.
South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner (1931-2021)
I am not interested in picking up crumbs of compassion thrown from the table of someone who considers himself my master. I want the full menu of rights.
South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner (1931-2021)
Without forgiveness, there’s no future.
South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner (1931-2021)
We would like to see you departing peacefully.
South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner (1931-2021)
What is black empowerment when it seems to benefit not the vast majority but an elite that tends to be recycled?
South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner (1931-2021)
I am a leader by default, only because nature does not allow a vacuum.
South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner (1931-2021)
You must show the world that you abhor fighting.
South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner (1931-2021)
Those who invest in South Africa should not think they are doing us a favor; they are here for what they get out of our cheap and abundant labor, and they should know that they are buttressing one of the most vicious systems.
South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner (1931-2021)
Be nice to whites, they need you to rediscover their humanity.
South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner (1931-2021)
My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.
South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner (1931-2021)
Do your little bit of good where you are; its those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.
South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner (1931-2021)
A person is a person because he recognizes others as persons.
South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner (1931-2021)
Be nice to the whites, they need you to rediscover their humanity.
South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner (1931-2021)
When a pile of cups is tottering on the edge of the table and you warn that they will crash to the ground, in South Africa you are blamed when that happens.
South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner (1931-2021)
For goodness sake, will they hear, will white people hear what we are trying to say? Please, all we are asking you to do is to recognize that we are humans, too.
South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner (1931-2021)
We may be surprised at the people we find in heaven. God has a soft spot for sinners. His standards are quite low.
South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner (1931-2021)