"Archbishop Desmond Tutu is the quintessential messenger of peace and tolerance," said Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper. He introduced Tutu at the inaugural lecture of the Insight Speaker Series which was held recently at the Wells Fargo Theater in the Convention Center.

Tutu is the renowned South African Episcopal prelate and anti-apartheid activist, whose work earned him the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize. Despite receipt of the coveted award and worldwide praise for his valor, Tutu, along with the Black majority in South Africa, could not vote for another decade. He was 63 years old when he cast his first vote in the 1994 historic elections which made Nelson Mandela that nation's first Black president.

Since his retirement in 1996, his human rights works has taken on an international scope. He is eager to share his experiences and encourages people not only to envision a better world, but to take action.

Tutu has given several lectures in Denver and Boulder and also had a prominent role in the 2006 Peace Jam, held at the University of Denver which attracted 3,000 youth from 31 nations.  The Peace Jam theme was "Change Starts Here," and Tutu conducted a special session on service projects.

Many local Peace Jam participants attended the Tutu's Insight Lecture.

Tutu played an indirect role in the founding of Peace Jam. In the early 1990s Ivan Suvanjieff lived and worked in northwest Denver. "I struck up a conversation with some neighborhood boys who had become gang members and were messing around with guns," he said.  "I asked them who was president of the United States, and they said they didn't know," he continued.

“We kept talking and got on the subject of South Africa and I mentioned Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The boys were Mexican-American, but I was surprised that they knew about Tutu and his anti-apartheid work in South Africa."

Suvanjieff teamed up with Dawn Engle and co-founded Peace Jam for the purpose of bringing together Nobel Peace Prize winners with youth from around the world.

Although untitled, his Insight lecture reflected on the universal theme of the relationship between the individual and society, and he emphasized that interdependence is inherent in the human condition.

"Since the beginning of time people have pondered these questions," he said.  "Even in the Bible, Adam and Eve and the rib story are examples of this concern. God said that it is not good for people to be alone," he continued.

Tutu pointed out that St. Augustine was among the many thinkers who addressed this issue; that the field of psychology demonstrates that individuals needs other human beings; and the field of science shows the interdependence of living things.

"Therefore, the Biblical story of the need for companionship does not fly in the face of reality," he emphasized. "We need other human beings in order to be fully human."

Tutu then made a statement that he reiterated several times during his talk. "The idea of the self-sufficiency of human beings is an abomination, a fiction, a fantasy."

African Principles of Ubuntu

He illustrated how African societies reflect upon the relationship between the individual and society. "The Ubuntu principles address this same issue," he said.

Ubuntu is an ethic or humanist philosophy focusing upon people's allegiances and relations with each other. The word is of Bantu origin and the ethic operates in Southern African societies.

Tutu has defined Ubuntu in the following way: "A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in the greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed."

"Ubuntu is a way of acknowledging interdependence," he continued.

Nelson Mandela often talks of Ubuntu which is considered one of the founding principles of the new, post-apartheid republic of South Africa.  Mandela often explains Ubuntu as follows:  "A traveler through a country would stop at a village and he didn't have to ask for food or for water. Once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu, but it has many aspects. The main issue is what the individual is going to do to enable the community around you to be able to improve?"

Returning to what he considers the outrageous idea of self-sufficiency, Tutu said that the alleged self-made man was shaped by others. He then talked about people who had influenced him.

"I often marvel at those who have shaped my life," he said. "There were three persons who influenced me. First, there was my mother to whom I bear a physical resemblance," he continued. "Although not highly educated, she was a caring and compassionate person."

"Second, in hindsight I have to say that I was influenced by the Anglican Episcopal priest that I knew as a youth." Tutu only indicated that the priest left an indelible impression upon him, but did not give specific details about his interaction with him.

"Third, there was a young English parish priest named Trevor who went to work just outside Johannesburg. He had a passion for justice and was a caring person. We developed a friendship and it was through my observations of him and through our relationship that I learned to overcome my anti-white feelings. I link much of my passion for justice and peace to my association with him."

The prelate noted that there was an international aspect of the anti-apartheid struggle. "Many people outside South Africa helped bring an end to the apartheid system," he said. "There were demonstrations all over the world including those organized by students on college campuses," he continued. "Therefore, victory against apartheid was a victory for people outside South Africa. And to our supporters around the world we, in South Africa, say 'thank you'."

Restorative Justice

Tutu lauded Nelson Mandela for the example he has set regarding attitudes towards one's former oppressors. "After 27 years of incarceration, he is not consumed by anger. There is no retribution and no revenge. Mandela's thrust has been reconciliation and without this attitude, the atmosphere in South Africa would have been impoverished."

Among Mandela's first acts as president was to appoint Tutu as head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). This panel investigated accounts of political crimes committed under apartheid. It began its work in 1996 and issued its final report in 2003. The TRC provided opportunities for people from all sides of the conflict to speak publicly about violations of human rights. It was an attempt to seek to promote forgiveness and national unity. The TRC granted amnesty to those accused of human rights abuses if they confessed and provided relevant information.

In South Africa there will be a permanent memorial honoring Tutu's work for peace, justice and reconciliation. The Desmond Tutu Peace Centre is under construction in Capetown and is scheduled for inauguration in 2010. It is an independent non-governmental organization set up to perpetuate the legacy of one of the greatest moral voices of our time.