1. Archbishop Desmond Tutu 1931- All Belong
Leo R. Sandy

2. Tutu cont’d
Tutu started out as a teacher but then changed his career to theology
Under apartheid ( a system of segregation enforced and dominated by Afrikaners (people of Dutch, German, and French descent), schools for blacks were terrible and life was very restricted for them
Once one of Tutu’s children wanted to play on a set of swings near a beach but the swings were on a “white” beach off limits to blacks

3. Tutu cont’d
Tutu received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for helping to end the apartheid system in South Africa
He established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for the purpose of avoiding revenge and providing healing for all those who suffered greatly under apartheid
He was the son of a teacher and a domestic worker who taught him to value diversity

4. Tutu cont’d
At age 12, he contracted tuberculosis and was hospitalized for 2 years at which time he received regular visits from a white Anglican priest who was also an anti-apartheid activist
This priest taught Tutu that a white person caring for a black person could mean that bitterness toward white people did not have to happen – at least one white person was nice

5. Tutu cont’d
Blacks who publicly opposed apartheid were often beaten, tortured, and killed. In one incident known as the Sharpesville massacre, 69 nonviolent demonstrators were shot and killed by police – mostly in the back as they tried to run
After becoming Bishop of Lesotho, Tutu stopped carrying his required ID card and denounced apartheid while urging western countries to impose sanctions on the South African government

6. Tutu cont’d
Following the abolition of apartheid, new elections were held, and Nelson Mandela, jailed for 40 years for opposing apartheid, was let out of prison to become president of South Africa. This was after 300 years of white rule
The problem now had to be faced about how to handle all those white security police who committed atrocities and murder in enforcing apartheid

7. Tutu cont’d
Despite death threats, Tutu refused to stop his activism but remained civil to his opponents
He later became Archbishop of Cape Town but had to wait until he was 62 before he could vote in his own country
The sanctions forced President F.W. de Klerk to dismantle the apartheid system

8. Tutu cont’d
The decision was to establish a system of forgiveness so the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, chaired by Tutu, was created to hear testimonies of those who committed crimes against blacks and who suffered from such crimes
In order to be given amnesty for their crimes, the perpetrators had to fully confess what they did
Often solemn apologies were given by the criminals and forgiveness given to them by their victims

9. Tutu cont’d
To those who felt that the security police and others got off too easy, Tutu offered an explanation that centered on restorative justice that allowed perpetrators and victims to reconcile as opposed to retributive justice whereby the purpose was to exact revenge on the perpetrators
Tutu believed that revenge would continue a cycle of violence that would damage South Africa. He wanted a new beginning: “Without forgiveness…we have no future”

10. Tutu cont’d
During the hearings, accounts of gruesome torture and killing caused Tutu to faint on more than one occasion and cry often
Tutu now travels around the world spreading his message of forgiveness and reconciliation. “In the human family, there are no outsiders. All are insiders – Black and white, rich and poor, gay and straight, Jew and Arab, Palestinian and Israeli, Roman Catholic and Protestant, Serb and Albanian….”

11. Tutu Quotes
Forgiveness says you are given another chance to make a new beginning.
Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.
If you want peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.

12. Video
Interview with Desmond Tutu

13. References
BrainyQuotes. Retrieved from
Beller, K., & Chase, H. (2008). Great peacemakers. True
stories from around the world. Sedona, AZ. LTS Press
Interview with Desmond Tutu. Retrieved from