Key+Elements

1. **Biographical information** – Students identify at **least five important facts** about their biography subject’s life which illustrate how the course of their life led them to stand up to power. **This must include a clear description of the injustice against which their biography subjects fought, including WHEN and WHERE.**

Desmond Tutu was born the son of an elementary school teacher and a domestic servant on October 7, 1931 in the gold mining town of Klerksdorp, South Africa. South Africa had been colonized by various European powers, including Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. During Tutu's childhood, South Africa was rigidly segregated. Black Africans, who represented the majority of citizens then and now, were denied the right to vote and were forced to live in specific areas. After World War II political and economic power became even more tightly held by whites when the white supremacist National Party of South Africa won control in the 1948 election. New laws were passed to further institutionalize racial segreation and to preserve white dominance, and these collective policies were given the name, "apartheid," which means, "separate," in Afrikaans.

Desmond Tutu followed in his father's first steps and became an elementary school teacher. However, early in his teaching career, the government passed a law which reduced funding for schools serving black students and lowered standards for black students. The law, which was intended to ensure that black students learned only enough to prepare them for a life of servitude, drove Tutu from the classroom, as he was not willing to participate in an educational system deliberately designed to promote inequality.

Desmond Tutu became an Anglican priest. He studied and worked in many parts of South Africa and in London as he rose to positions of power in the Anglican Church. He used his influence as a religious leader to speak out against apartheid on the national and international stage, drawing the attention of the world to the injustices perpetrated in South Africa. In 1984 Desmond Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent opposition to apartheid and his leadership role in the struggle for black liberation. In 1986 he was chosen to serve as the Archbishop of Cape Town, the highest position in the South African Anglican Church.

In the early 1990's apartheid officially ended when a lengthy negotiation process resulted in the establishment of a democratic political system in which blacks were provided the right to vote. In April 1994 South African citizens elected African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela, who had been imprisoned by the previous government for 27 years. President Mandela appointed Tutu to head a "Truth and Reconciliation Commission" formed to investigate and report on, "the atrocities committed by both sides in the struggle over apartheid/"

2. **Opponents** – A.) Students identify the opponents of their biography subject. B.) Students explain why they opposed the actions and goals of their biography subjects.

The primary opponent of Archbishop Desmond Tutu was the South African government that created and enforced apartheid, which imposed profound limitations on the freedoms of black South Africans and concentrated wealth and power into the hands of powerful white citizens. The white elite opposed an end to apartheid because the apartheid system provided whites the highest standard of living. Also, many whites were afraid that they would be confronted with violence by blacks if the apartheid system was ended.

3. **Legacy -** A.) Students report the action or actions of their biography subject for which they will be remembered most. B) Students clearly explain the significance of this action or actions.

Desmond Tutu will be remembered as one of the most important and influential human rights activists. He is often compared to Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. due to his embrace of nonviolent resistance, the practice of achieving socio-political goals without violence. Because Tutu used his platform a a leader in the South African Anglican Church, many other nations joined in the effort to end apartheid. Governments and private parties around the world imposed economic sanctions on South Africa and/or removed their investments from South Africa, eventually forcing change.

Desmond Tutu será recordado como uno de los activistas de derechos humanos más importantes. Él es a menudo comparado con Mohandas Gandhi y Martin Luther King, Jr. por haber promovido la resistencia no violenta , la práctica de perseguir metas socio-políticas sin violencia. Tutu aprovechó su posición de influencia para dirigir la atención del mundo a la desgracia de apartheid. Debido a su coraje y liderazgo  muchas otras naciones se unieron en la meta de acabar las injusticias de apartheid. Muchos gobiernos y negocios de todo el mundo impusieron sanciones económicas a Sudáfrica y retiraron sus inversiones de Sudáfrica, eventualmente forzando un cambio.

4. **Connection to the present –** A.) Students identify a conflict from current events related to the life and work of their biography subjects. B.) Students clearly describe the goals of the people from both sides of this conflict.

South Africa today is experiencing many serious challenges, including continued discrimination against blacks, an unemployment rate above 40%, a rising crime rate, corruption in government, and an extraordinarily high HIV infection rate (one in nine South Africans is HIV positive). Some charge that a "neo-aparthied" or "NEW apartheid" has come into being in which the government favors the goals of rich and powerful transnational corporations over the needs of the people who have already waited centuries for justice and full participation in society. The conflict consists of a battle over priorities: the profit goals of large corporations versus a society in which citizens are free from hunger, poverty, disease, homelessness, and discrimination.

5. **Inspirational Words** – Students identify a quote from a speech or written material of their biography subjects. A.) Students include the quote in their voicethread slideshows (both in print and read out loud). B.) Students explain why they find that particular quote powerful in today’s world.

People are a glorious creation; that just as much as we have the extraordinary capacity for evil, so we have a remarkable capacity for good. http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/12262008/profile3.html

For much of his life Desmond Tutu witnessed grave injustices that were perpetrated in a brutal and systematic manner. In his role as a social justice advocate and in his leadership role in the reconciliation process after apartheid ended Tutu gained personal experience with extreme evil and extreme good. He witnessed brutal oppression and violent responses by the government to any attempts to change the system. He witnessed violence perpetrated by both sides of the struggle. He also witnessed great courage and forgiveness He witnessed extremes of the human spirit and came away from these experiences optimistic that the compassionate human impulse stands a chance of winning out over fear and greed. This quote expresses that optimism and conveys a message of hope for peace and reconciliation with regard to countless conflicts which threaten the life and well-being of many people around the world today.

"We don't want apartheid liberalized. We want it dismantled. You can't improve something that is intrinsically evil."

(Speech, June 1986) Desmond Tutu: quote on apartheid. (2011). In //World History: The Modern Era//. Retrieved May 10, 2011, from http://worldhistory.abc-clio.com/

6. **Artwork/Photography –** A.) Students include an image (e.g. photograph, work of visual art, etc.) that is symbolic of the life and work of their biography subject. B.) Students provide analysis of the image (e.g. artist information, medium, year created, artist commentary). If the image is the work of an IAMS art student, commentary about the artwork by the student artist is included.

Artist Hollis Chatelain

In February 2002, I dreamed “Hope For our World”. The dream was in purple and Archbishop Tutu was standing in a field. Children from all over the world were approaching him like he was a Pied Piper. The dream seemed to be speaking about World Peace and the Future of our Children. Desmond Tutu represented Hope. In May of 2005 I was honored to have a meeting with Archbishop Tutu to discuss my dream. “Hope For Our World” was finished April 16, 2002.


 * Title: || Hope For Our World ||
 * Dimension: || 82"X 82" ||
 * Technique: || Hand dye-painted with thickened fiber reactive dyes using six values of purple dye on cotton fabric, machine quilted with over 200 different colors of thread. ||
 * Materials: || Cotton fabric, wool/polyester batting ||