FULTON, Mo. -- In its week-long celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, William Woods University will host the daughter of South African social rights activist Archbishop Desmond Tutu at 6 p.m. today in Cutlip Auditorium.
A university press release stated that Nontombi Naomi Tutu will "speak for her passion for human dignity in celebration" of the national holiday in her program titled, "Our Shared Humanity: Creating Understanding Through the Principles of MLK." All are welcome to listen to Tutu speak, and the event - part of the President's Concert and Lecture series - is free.
Growing up in segregated South Africa, Tutu now speaks internationally about race and gender inequalities - the very topics she became quickly familiar with in her youth. Tutu will dissect King's "I Have a Dream" speech and discuss a South African proverb "to demonstrate how actions and inactions play a part in everyone's daily lives," the press release stated.
"Known to be an advocate for tolerance and inclusion, Tutu focuses on the power to change and unify the world," the release stated. "Her speeches are a combination of personal stories and passions, and have been known to inspire crowds throughout the nations."
Tutu has been speaking publicly for decades, starting in the 1970s. Her early speeches took place at Berea College in Kentucky, where she attended classes, and she was brought into churches, community groups, colleges and universities to speak about her life growing up in apartheid South Africa. Now, Tutu gives talks on a bigger scale to business associations, professional conferences, elected officials and church and civic organizations.
In addition to inspirational speaker, Tutu's resume includes the title of professor. Teaching the topics of gender and race relations, Tutu has been a professor at the University of Hartford, University of Connecticut and Brevard College in North Carolina.
But, Tutu's accolades don't stop there.
At the African Gender Institute at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, she acted as the program coordinator for programs on race, gender and gender-based violence.
"By the early 2000s, Tutu had become a recognized speaker on race relations and gender issues," the release stated. "With her famous name, she was able to take her talents to the next level and share her passions in a variety of ways."
Tutu decided to commit her life to public speaking in 2006 and left her role as the associate director of international programs at Tennessee State University. In her home country where minorities were discriminated against, Tutu served as an election observer in South Africa's first democratic elections in 1994 to ensure the process was fair to all.