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Desmond Tutu

Human Rights Activist

LATEST INITIATIVE

Aggregate 300,000 signatures to "urgently respond to climate change by setting a 100% renewable energy target by 2050"

WHO IS?

Desmond Tutu was the first black Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town and Johannesburg.

BIO

IMPLICATIONS

He is one of the 18 world personalities supporting the Alliance of Civilizations.

AWARDS

In 1984 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to solve and end apartheid.

(South Africa, 1931)

ACHIEVEMENTS

Member of the Honorary Committee of the International Coordination for the Decade of Non-Violence and Peace.

A QUOTE

"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor."

Desmond Tutu, Activista por los Derechos Humanos Just by reading some of his phrases you can get an idea of the social work and advocacy for human rights that characterize Desmond Tutu's life: Desmond Tutu is one of South Africa's best known human rights activists, winner of the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to solve and end apartheid. Born in 1931 in Klerksdorp, South Africa, he was first a teacher and then studied theology, becoming the first black Anglican archbishop of Cape Town and Johannesburg. In 1976, in the context of the Soweto protests against the compulsory use of Afrikaans as a language in schools for young black South Africans, when these turned into a massive national revolt against apartheid, Desmond Tutu took an active part in supporting the international economic boycott. Through his lectures and writings as an outspoken critic of apartheid, he became known as the "voice of the voiceless" of the black South African population. He was Bishop of Lesotho from 1976 to 1978, and from 1978 to 1985 he was General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches. On September 7, 1986 he was ordained Archbishop of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa. He actively fought against the HIV epidemic and he is currently also one of the 18 world personalities who support the Alliance of Civilizations. His social work has had several worldwide recognitions, always related to Human Rights, among these we can highlight:

• 1984, Nobel Prize in Oslo, Norway.
• 2012, UNESCO Prize, Bilbao.
• 2014, Catalonia International Prize.

Among his latest social implications is the fact that he has obtained more than 300,000 signatures supporting a letter addressed to the Secretary General of the United Nations and the President of the United States in which he asks "to urgently respond to climate change by establishing a 100% renewable energy target by 2050." Some of his quotes sum up his life's work:

• "A democratic and just society, without racial divisions."
• "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor."
• "I'm not interested in picking up the crumbs of compassion that fall from the table of someone who considers himself my master. I want the full menu of rights."
• "I can't imagine the Lord I worship, this Jesus Christ, being okay with the persecution of a minority that is already being persecuted. The Jesus I worship is a Jesus who was always on the side of those who were being punished and got into trouble precisely because of it."

If you want to continue to learn more in-depth about Desmond's life, you can do so at some of the websites we recommend: https://www.unidosporlosderechoshumanos.es/voices-for-human-rights/desmond-tutu.html An Interview with Desmond Tutu: After the TRC (1998)In a key interview, Desmond Tutu talks of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's disturbing findings, and South Africa's way forward into the 21st...YouTube