Archbishop Tutu, who won his Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 as recognition of the work he did in the fight against apartheid in South Africa, was addressing a capacity crowd at the Minneapolis Convention Center auditorium. The Peace Jam event had earlier caused controversy after Archbishop Tutu, initially booked to appear at the University of St. Thomas, was barred from the college citing his controversial views on Israel which were viewed by some as anti-Semitic. The move by St. Thomas was widely condemned by many members of its faculty and student body, and was later recanted, however, Archbishop Tutu instead accepted an offer by the Metropolitan State University to host the event.  Founded in 1994, Peace Jam International is an annual event bringing young adults and Nobel Laureates together to tackle problems involving global peace and justice.

 The theme of the speech, Making Friends of our Enemies, is particularly fitting at a time of an upsurge in global violence; in Darfur, Middle East and more recently Kenya and Tibet.  Archbishop Tutu emphasized the importance of human interaction citing the biblical creation story. "When Adam needed a partner, none of the animals was suitable, so God created another human, Eve. We cannot exist in solitude,” he said. He stressed that human beings complemented each in their diverse talents and abilities, asserting that self-sufficiency was sub-human and lacking in Ubuntu (the essence of being human).   

The Nobel Laureate lamented the large sums of money spent on weapons of war globally and asked the audience to ponder what the effects of these funds would be if they were redirected to war ravaged nations and hunger-stricken people around the world, especially in these times of great want and strife caused by food deficiencies. 

Making a reference to the teachings of Jesus, he urged people to embrace all, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, political inclination or socio- economic background. The crowd was drawn to a roar when he extended the embrace to cover "even George Bush". He said people should be generous to those in need and expect from others only what they were capable of producing, giving the example of a family setting where the baby and the grandmother will not contribute as much as the father, mother and the young adult children. He urged everyone to try to help those of lower means and to strive to be better neighbours and fellow citizens, and non- judgmental towards other members of society. He ended his presentation to a standing ovation saying, “An enemy is a friend waiting to be made.”        

Archbishop Tutu, "“I still hope that his peers, the heads of state in Africa, could exert pressure on him [Mugabe] to … step down with dignity.”Looking on is moderator Kerri Miller, host of Minnesota Public Radio's Midmorning program. Photo: N. Jeanne Burns

In the question and answer session, the audience had pre-submitted their questions, Archbishop Tutu began by acknowledging that he knew he owed a lot to the prayers of people around him and would not have made it as far without their help. Asked about the politics of forgiveness and revenge in Zimbabwe, he said that initially Robert Mugabe had dissipated fears of vengeance against the colonialists and settlers, and had only recently  ‘snapped’, creating a nightmare. He hoped that pressure from other African leaders and the media would cause Mugabe to step down and salvage what was left of his legacy.
         
Archbishop Tutu also acknowledged that there had been a great breakthrough worldwide in the recognition and preservation of human rights and that these were acknowledged in many more areas of the world, including even those where they were not accorded everyone. He attributed this to the hard work of those who began the fight for the development of standards in human rights and encouraged those presently living in harship and under oppression to take heart from the victories of others that bore similar trials. He was asked whether it would be helpful to create a Truth and Reconciliations Commission in the aftermath of the war in Iraq, responding that there was a need for reconciliation but it must not be done in the exact model as the one in South Africa. This, he said, was because the people of Iraq, had issues unique to them that they needed to have looked into. Initiatives on solutions to these issues would have to be organic, to come from the people of Iraq.
     
Archbishop Tutu  was also asked what he thought of the election process in the US; an African-American and a woman running as credible candidates. The archbishop praised the American nation, noting that this had all happened in spite of the racism that was and still is significant. He said that even though there was still hurt in the Native Americans and African Americans, it is laudable that a worthy female and a worthy African-American candidate had been able to get this far in the race. The questioner noted that earlier as the Archbishop had been speaking about inclusivity and acceptance of all, he had mentioned George Bush last and asked what he thought Bush’s Legacy would be.  He responded noting that Laura Bush had been on the side of the angels regarding the conflict Burma.

“We may be surprised at the people we find in heaven.” Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Noel Opoti is a KenyaImagine writer. This article is published exclusively for KenyaImagine. Reproduction is unauthorised except with the express permission of the editors who can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .