Mpho Tutu: Book Of Forgiving -Exclusive Interview

“Forgiveness says you are given another chance to make a new beginning.” ~Desmond Tutu

Desmond Mpilo Tutu was born 7 October 1931 and he is a South African social rights activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980’s as an opponent of apartheid.

He was the first black Archbishop of Cape Town and bishop of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa (now the Anglican Church of Southern Africa). Tutu’s admirers see him as a man who since the demise of apartheid has been active in the defense of human rights and uses his high profile to campaign for the oppressed. He has campaigned to fight AIDS, tuberculosis, poverty, racism, sexism, the imprisonment of Chelsea Manning, homophobia and trans-phobia.

Tutu has lent his name to the fight against homophobia in Africa and around the world. He stated at the launching of the book Sex, Love and Homophobia that homophobia is a “crime against humanity” and “every bit as unjust” as apartheid. He added that: “we struggled against apartheid in South Africa, supported by people the world over, because black people were being blamed and made to suffer for something we could do nothing about; our very skins… It is the same with sexual orientation. It is a given.”

He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984; the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism in 1986; the Pacem in Terris Award in 1987; the Sydney Peace Prize in 1999; the Gandhi Peace Prize in 2007; and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. He has also compiled several books of his speeches and sayings.

Terry Patten – Beyond Awakening

Other humanitarian initiatives:

In 2009 Tutu joined the project “Soldiers of Peace”, a movie against all wars and for a global peace. Also in 2009, along with prominent chefs and celebrities like Daniel Boulud and Jean Rochefort, Desmond Tutu endorsed Action against Hunger’s No Hunger Campaign calling on the former Vice-President Al Gore to make a documentary film about world hunger. Tutu is one of the patrons of The Forgiveness Project, a UK-based charity that uses real stories of victims and perpetrators of crime to facilitate conflict resolution, break the cycle of vengeance and encourage behavioral change. As a supporter of their work, Tutu joined Anita Roddick at the launch of The Forgiveness Project’s exhibition, the F Word, at the Oxo Tower Gallery in January 2004 and on 12 May 2010 delivered the charity’s inaugural annual lecture.