Hilary Blue wrote:
>
> Presenting the Archbishop of Cape Town, Desmond Mpilo Tutu.
>
>  Desmond Tutu was born Oct 7th, 1931, in a small townwhip (ghetto) near
> Klerksdorp, on the edge of the goldmining region, in South Africa. The house
> was a typical one-room shack with no electricity or running water. His father
> was a school teacher. Like all black people in South Africa, he had to carry a
> 'pass' which identified him and showed  the restricted areas he was allowed to
> visit. Police could demand to see a pass at any time, and failure to produce
> it on demand resulted in immediate imprisonment.
> Young Desmond contracted TB when he was 14. During his 2 years in hospital, he
> met Father Trevor Huddleston, and learned that not all Whites are bad. Father
> Huddleston  also inspired Tutu's devotion to Christianity.
> In 1948, the Nationalist Party came into power, and Apartheid became the
> official doctrine of the government. Racial prejudice, segregation and
> oppression became the cornerstones of the Government. Laws were passed making
> racial intermarriage illegal - even restricting what Black children were
> allowed to learn in school - and schools were strictly segregated.
> At this time Tutu became active politically, even writing a letter to the
> Prime Minister deploring the racial inequities. He entered the university,
> wanting to study medicine, but did not have the money, so he became teacher
> like his father. He and Leah were married at this time. Tutu decided to become
> a minister, and entered a theological college, There were many peaceful
> demonstrations taking place as black people, often supported by members of the
> other racially-classified groups protested against racial inequalities. But
> the police were not so peaceful, and in 1961 the massacre at Sharpeville
> occurred. Official figures admitted to 69 peaceful protesters mown down by
> police bullets.
> Tutu went to London, to study theology at King's College, and found that
> different races could live together and respect each other. Meantime, South
> Africa was becoming a police state. Police regularly broke up peacful
> demonstrations, people could be arrested and imprisoned without trial.
> Tutu was lecturing at Fort Hare University (for black students only), which at
> one point was summarily closed down by police.In 1971, he moved to the University of
> Lesotho, Botswana and Swaziland. He was becoming well known inthe Anglican
> Church, and had the opportunity to visit other impoverished countries. This
> gave him greater empathy and understanding for all humankind.
> In 1975 he became Bishop of Johannesburg.*
> This was a prominent public position. Bishop Tutu wrote a letter to the Prime
> Minister warning that all South Africans, black and white, faced a bloody and
  violent future, if the laws were not changed. His prediction came true only
a
  year later, when the Soweto school riots broke out.
> In 1979, he called for sanctions against South Africa, saying this was the
> only nonviolent way of bringing about change in South Africa,. And in 1984,
> he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The day he received the Award he also
> learned he had been elected Archbishop of Johannesburg. In 1986 He became
> Archbishop of Cape Town, the highest rank in the South African Anglican Church.

> After South Africa achieved its political freedom under Nelson Mandela,
> Archbishop Tutu became chairman of the Truth and Reconcilations Commission,
> which was trying to heal the wounds of the country's racist past. As always,
> Archbishop Tutu was in the forefront where ever a peaceful alternative could
> be found.

Hilary Blue

*Footnote: At this point I was librarian to the S.A. Inst. of Race Relations.
Leah Tutu, wife of the Bishop,  joined one of the projects run by the
Institute, and I had the honour of working with her.