In Tribute to Desmond Tutu
An Epic Life in Ninety Years of Resistance, Persistence & Laughter
Today the world lost one of its most elegant, eloquent, enduring, and implacable foes of injustice and intolerance. Desmond Tutu died at the age of 90 after a most remarkable life.
I will not rehash the various stories about his remarkable accomplishments in detail. There have been reams of paper dedicated to capturing, archiving, and commemorating his myriad achievements and accomplishments. In death, no doubt there will be many more tributes and retrospectives to come.
He was a senior church leader, an effective and powerful opponent to South African apartheid, an at-times solitary voice in the wilderness advocating LGBT rights, and a remarkable symbol of reconciliation and healing in the wake of generational violence and oppression. A Nobel laureate and a national hero in South Africa, he received countless accolades and awards for his activism, statesmanship, and moral suasion. He was, in short, a great man — perhaps one of the greatest that the African continent has ever produced.
What mission can we set for ourselves to contribute to a better world?
But for me, Desmond Tutu has a particular personal significance. In January 1999, I…
