Human rights activist gives familiar message in Rockford: No justice, no peace
The Rev. Nontombi Naomi Tutu said the quest for worldwide peace starts with justice for all.
"We each have to identify the roles that we are playing that stop justice from happening," she said, "and we have to recognize the gifts that we have that will help bring justice and peace."
Tutu made her remarks Thursday at Rockford University as part of the university's celebration of the International Day of Peace.
Tutu is the third child of Archbishop Desmond and Nomalizo Leah Tutu.
Her father was a force for nonviolence in South Africa's anti-apartheid movement and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.
Tutu said too often, we believe peace is the absence of conflict.
"But we don't look at the undersurface of what we call peace," she said. "We don't look at the people that we make pay the price for our experiencing peace. We don't want to question what it is that allows us to be comfortable.
"So very often, what allows us to experience this idea of a peaceful existence is the suffering and injustice that others experience in different places around the world."
The best education she got about peace came from her parents, she said, and from being fortunate enough to spend time with other Nobel Price laureates such as Betty Williams and Mairead Maguire from Northern Ireland and the 14th Dalai Lama.
She said each of them had two things in common. Each sought peace through justice in their communities, and they each had sense of joy that world, with all of its suffering and injustices, could not take away.
"They have in them a joy that as many have admired would say came from knowing that they were amazing human beings made in the very image of God," Tutu said.
"So whatever was going on in the world and in their lives, they held a belief in their value and in their worth, and therefore in the value and worth of other human beings."
Tutu who spoke as a reverend and as a mother of three children concluded her remarks by saying that justice "is not some pipe dream" but can be a reality when we all come to recognize our shared humanity and "and see our differences as a gift from God."
"So, I believe that peace and justice can indeed be a reality, and I believe that starts with each of us."
The International Day of Peace is celebrated each year on Sept. 21 around the globe.
It is a reminder of the United Nations' commitment to peace and conflict resolution and encourages individuals, communities and nations to work toward a more peaceful and just world.
Chris Green: 815-987-1241; cgreen@rrstar.com; @chrisfgreen
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Rockford University celebrates International Day of Peace with Tutu
