<p>As the daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Naomi Tutu struggled to find her own place in the world. As a human rights advocate, she pulls from her personal challenges of growing up black and female in apartheid South Africa.</p><p>The Rev. Nontombi Naomi Tutu knew from early in life that the one thing she would never be is a priest. She has always said, “I have my father’s nose, I do not want his job” However, after years spent as a development consultant, educator and race and gender activist she accepted her call to ordained ministry. She is an Episcopal priest who most recently was Associate Rector at All Saints, Beverly Hills. The challenges of growing black and female in apartheid South Africa have been the foundation of Naomi’s life as an activist for human rights. Those experiences taught her that our whole human family loses when we accept situations of oppression, and how the teaching and preaching hate and division injure us all.</p><p>Rev. Tutu is the third child Archbishop Desmond and Nomalizo Leah Tutu. She was born in South Africa and had the opportunity to live in many communities and countries. She was educated in Swaziland, the US and England, and has divided her adult life between South Africa and the US. Growing up the ‘daughter of …’ has offered Naomi Tutu many opportunities and challenges in her life. Perhaps one of the greatest challenges she has struggled with is the call to ministry. This call refused to be silenced, even as she carried her passion for justice into other fields, the call to preach and serve as an ordained clergyperson continued to tug at her. Finally, in her 50’s she responded to the call and went to seminary. </p><p>Her professional experience ranges from being a development consultant in West Africa, to being program coordinator for programs on Race and Gender and Gender-based Violence in Education at the African Gender Institute at the University of Cape Town. In addition, Rev. Tutu has taught at the University of Hartford, University of Connecticut and Brevard College in North Carolina. 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.</p><p>She started her public speaking as a college student at Berea College in Kentucky in the 1970’s 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 to groups as varied as business associations, professional conferences, elected officials and church and civic organizations.</p>
Race & Gender Justice Activist
<ul><li><strong>Striving for Justice: Searching for Common Ground</strong></li><li>After the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple conflicts and wars happening, and the most controversial election in history, communities in the US and around the world are more polarized and divided than ever before. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing, says the Rev. Naomi Tutu. The Human Rights Activist and daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu says it gives us the chance to create a brighter future, where everyone can thrive. In this keynote, Naomi shares the challenges she faced growing up Black and female in apartheid South Africa and the lessons we can learn from it. You’ll also learn how our differences are just opportunities and how the foundation for a just society is where we accept others and recognize the potential for greatness in each of us. Whether in the workplace, university or school or just your community, these are tools we can all use to help build a just world.</li><li><strong>Truth & Reconciliation: Healing Wounds</strong></li><li>Whether in our personal lives or the larger society, we have wounds that block our ability to be the wonderful gifts that we are meant to be in the world. We, too, have inflicted wounds on others, and all these wounds can be healed. However, it takes courage and the willingness to speak and hear the truth. That first step to healing is so often the hardest. We are afraid to speak our truth for fear of judgment, rejection and anger. We are also afraid to hear truths that might question our images of ourselves. Yet the pain is only the first step. What comes after that is healing and wholeness. Using South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission as a starting place and model in this presentation, the Rev. Naomi Tutu, a Human Rights Activist and daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, talks about how we can heal as individuals and as a society.</li><li><strong>Our Shared Humanity: Creating Understanding Through the Principles of MLK</strong></li><li>In this empowering keynote speech, the Rev. Naomi Tutu, a Human Rights Activist and daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, combines Dr. King's dream of the "Beloved Community" with the teachings of a South African proverb, speaking to the need to understand how our actions–or inactions–affect all with whom we come in contact and ourselves. Rather than focus on what separates us, Naomi encourages us to focus on our shared humanity to build a just world. Both the "Beloved Community" and the proverb share an underlying theme: The importance of not dehumanizing those with whom we are in conflict, but rather concentrating on what we have the power to change.</li><li><strong> Building Coalitions Across Differences</strong></li><li>What happens when you accept oppression, division or hate? Everyone suffers, says the Rev. Naomi Tutu. In this empowering keynote, Naomi, a Human Rights Activist and daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, explains how we can create a brighter future for everyone with an intersectional approach in the fight for the rights of women, especially those of color, and others marginalized by listening to each other and our stories, cultivating strong coalitions and creating allyship across differences. When we hear each other and get to know those who are not like us, the healing begins.</li><li><strong> One Body, One Family, One World</strong></li><li>Growing up during apartheid in South Africa, the Rev. Naomi Tutu had firsthand experience of how the prayers and support of the worldwide church are a real means of encouragement for struggling and suffering people. Churches throughout the world offered support to the people of South Africa as they sought to change their country from one built on the separation of people based on race to one that celebrated the different gifts and cultures that their country has been blessed with. Churches sent letters of support to political prisoners and their families, sponsored communities in the Bantustans, and wrote letters to government and business leaders calling on them to live the Gospel imperative to “love your neighbor as yourself.”</li></ul>