Through My African Eyes: Let us "Tutu-lize" the World
02-16-2022
By Stephen Apollo
On December 26, 2021 the world woke up to the sad news of the passing on of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, commonly referred to as “the Arch.” The Nobel peace laureate died peacefully at 90 and his life was full of outstanding accomplishments. He was the first black bishop of Johannesburg and later as the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town. Even as we celebrate black history this February here in the United States, the story of the Arch is a fitting interconnection. When I think about the Arch I think about three things and some corresponding quotes by himself:
First, it is his global recognized formidable struggle for freedom, as expressed in his nonviolent fight against the apartheid in South Africa. In describing the post-apartheid South Africa, the Arch creatively coined the word “Rainbow Nation,” a phrase that was later used by Nelson Mandela.
“In dehumanizing others, they are themselves dehumanized. Perhaps oppression dehumanizes the oppressor as much as, if not more than, the oppressed. They need each other to become truly free, to become human. We can be human only in fellowship, in community, in koinonia, in peace.”
"I can't for the life of me imagine that God would say, 'I will punish you because you are black; you should have been white. I will punish you because you are a woman; you should have been a man. I punish you because you are homosexual; you ought to have been heterosexual. I can't, I can't for the life of me believe that that is how God sees things."
Secondly, it is his unwavering fight for human rights as expressed in his advocacy for LGBTQ rights. His input was most outstanding, considering his African context, where most of the church leaders are against the LGBTQ community. Like he saw with apartheid, the Arch saw homophobia as dehumanizing, and with the same vigor and boldness he spoke against apartheid, he fought against homophobia.
"It isn't that it's questionable when you speak up for the right of people with different sexual orientation. People took some part of us and used it to discriminate against us. In our case, it was our ethnicity; it's precisely the same thing for sexual orientation. People are killed because they're gay."
“I would rather go to hell than to a homophobic heaven.”
Thirdly, it is his love for humanity beyond all divisive lines, as expressed in his incredible friendship with his Holiness Dalai Lama, with whom they liked to tease each other. Most notably, In April 2015, the Arch traveled to the Dalai Lama's home in Dharamsala, India, to celebrate his 80th birthday. Thankfully, the week-long visit culminated in the idea of writing a wonderful book, The Book of Joy, which they co-authored.[1]
"We can be human only together. A person is a person to other persons. We so desperately long for all of us to learn that we are meant for one another. We are meant for complementarity."
We received the news of the passing of the Arch with great sadness, but also with profound gratitude as we reflect upon his life, which was full of love and commitment to God and humanity. We are thankful today for such a life so well lived and in this world full of hatred and all its siblings, let us "Tutu-lize" our world. Lala Ngozolo great son of Africa!
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