Race and gender justice activist Rev. Nontombi Naomi Tutu will give the keynote address for a Martin Luther King Jr. Day gathering entitled “Our Shared Humanity” at Mount St. Mary’s University. The presentation, which is free and open to the public, will be on January 29 at 6:30 p.m. in Knott Auditorium. Members of the public are asked to register in advance at https://tinyurl.com/msmu-tutu to attend the keynote speech.
Tutu, daughter of the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, will combine Martin Luther King’s dream of the “Beloved Community” with the teachings of a South African proverb, to address the need to understand how our actions – or inactions – affect all with whom we come in contact and ourselves. She will encourage the audience to focus on building a just world through shared humanity rather than concentrating on what separates us.
The challenges of growing up Black and female in apartheid South Africa have been the foundation of Naomi Tutu’s life as a motivational speaker and human rights activist. Those experiences taught her that the whole human family loses when situations of oppression are accepted, and how the teaching and preaching of hate and division injure everyone. Tutu’s professional experience ranges from being an economist and development consultant in West Africa to being a program coordinator at the African Gender Institute at the University of Cape Town for programs on race and gender and gender-based violence in education.
Tutu has taught at the University of Hartford, the University of Connecticut and Brevard College. She served as program coordinator for the historic Race Relations Institute at Fisk University and was a part of the Institute’s delegation to the World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa.
Growing up the daughter of Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu has offered Tutu many opportunities and challenges in her life. One of the greatest struggles was the call to the ministry. In her 50s, she responded to the call to preach and went to seminary. She is an Episcopal priest who most recently served as associate rector at All Saints, Beverly Hills. She currently lives in Atlanta where she is a priest associate at All Saints’ Episcopal.
Tutu started her public speaking as a college student at Berea College in the 1970s when she was invited to speak at churches, community groups and colleges and universities about her experiences growing up in apartheid South Africa. Since that time, she has become a much sought-after speaker. Tutu has carved her own path in helping change the lives of others and make a difference in the world.
Excerpt from Mt. St. Mary’s University Office of Equity and Success