Defying Apartheid laws, Archbishop Desmond Tutu (blue shirt) and his supporters jog across a whites-only beach in Cape Town, South Africa, September 1989
Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 1931 – 26 December 2021)
Desmond Tutu, the cleric and social activist who was a giant of the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, has died aged 90.
It is impossible to imagine South Africa’s long and tortuous journey to freedom - and beyond - without Archbishop Desmond Tutu. While other struggle leaders were killed, or forced into exile, or prison, the diminutive, defiant Anglican priest was there at every stage, exposing the hypocrisy of the apartheid state, comforting its victims, holding the liberation movement to account, and daring Western governments to do more to isolate a white-minority government that he compared, unequivocally, to the Nazis.
When democracy arrived, Tutu used his moral authority to oversee the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that sought to expose the crimes of the white-minority government. Later he turned that same fierce gaze on the failings, in government, of South Africa’s former liberation movement, the ANC.
Many South Africans today will remember Tutu’s personal courage, and the clarity of his moral fury. But as those who knew him best have so often reminded us, Tutu was always, emphatically, the voice of hope. And it is that hope, that optimism, accompanied, so often, by his trademark giggles and cackles, that seems likely to shape the way the world remembers, and celebrates, Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Known affectionately as The Arch, Tutu was instantly recognisable, with his purple clerical robes, cheery demeanour and almost constant smile.
Ordained as a priest in 1960, Tutu went on to serve as bishop of Lesotho from 1976-78, assistant bishop of Johannesburg and rector of a parish in Soweto. He became Bishop of Johannesburg in 1985, and was appointed the first black Archbishop of Cape Town the following year. He used his high-profile role to speak out against oppression of black people in his home country, always saying his motives were religious and not political.
After Mandela became South Africa’s first black president in 1994, Tutu was appointed by him to a Truth and Reconciliation Commission set up to investigate crimes committed by both whites and blacks during the apartheid era.
He was also credited with coining the term Rainbow Nation to describe the ethnic mix of post-apartheid South Africa, but in his latter years he expressed regret that the nation had not coalesced in the way in which he had dreamt.
Born in 1931 in South Africa, Desmond Tutu established a career in education before turning to theology, ultimately becoming one of the world’s most prominent spiritual leaders. Tutu is widely regarded as “South Africa’s moral conscience.”
In 1978, Tutu, an Anglican bishop, was appointed general secretary of his country’s Council of Churches and became a leading spokesperson for the rights of black South Africans. During the 1980s he played an almost unrivaled role in drawing national and international attention to the iniquities of apartheid, and in 1984 he won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
He later chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and has continued to draw attention to a number of social justice issues over the years. In 2009, President Obama honored Tutu with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
Tutu retired from public life in 2010 but has kept speaking out on issues ranging from Mideast peace to corruption among South Africa’s political elite.
Photo credits: Gallo Images/Getty Images, Gallo Images/Sunday Times/Getty Images, Gallo Images/Avusa/Rene Oosthuisen, Helmuth Lohmann/AP, Gill Allen/AP, Desmond Boylan/Reuters, Nick Wass/AP, J. Scott Applewhite/AP,
We create most of our suffering, so it naturally follows that we should be able to create more joy. The key to doing so is our own perspective and the thoughts, feelings and actions that come as a result of that perspective. It is true that humility; acceptance of what we cannot change or control; forgiveness; gratitude; compassion and generosity are all also vital to any lasting happiness, but we have to begin with some fundamental quality of the mind that will allow us to turn more easily and frequently to, for example, compassionate and generous responses to life.
A healthy perspective really is the foundation of joy and happiness, because the way we see the world is the way we experience the world. Being mindful of and changing the way we see the world in turn changes the way we feel, which, in turn, changes the way we act. And in a very real way, the way we act changes the world itself, at least in our own sphere of influence. This is how with your mind you create your own reality.
Alegría. Creamos la mayor parte de nuestro sufrimiento, por lo que naturalmente se sigue que deberíamos poder crear más alegría. La clave para hacerlo es nuestra propia perspectiva y los pensamientos, sentimientos y acciones que surgen como resultado de esa perspectiva. Es cierto que la humildad; aceptación de lo que no podemos cambiar o controlar; perdón; gratitud; compasión y generosidad son también vitales para cualquier felicidad duradera, pero tenemos que comenzar con alguna cualidad fundamental de la mente que nos permitirá volvernos más fácil y frecuentemente a, por ejemplo, respuestas compasivas y generosas a la vida.
Una perspectiva saludable es realmente la base de la alegría y la felicidad, porque la forma en que vemos el mundo es la forma en que experimentamos el mundo. Ser conscientes y cambiar la manera en que vemos el mundo a su vez cambia la manera en que nos sentimos, lo que, a su vez, cambia la forma en que actuamos. Y de una manera muy real, la forma en que actuamos cambia el mundo mismo, al menos en nuestra propia esfera de influencia. Así es como con tu mente creas tu propia realidad.
