One of the greatest champions in the war against South Africa’s racist apartheid system spoke at the University of Toronto on this date in 2000. Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu, who was awarded an Hon. Degree by U of T, delivered a passionate address about the past struggle for justice and freedom for majority South Africans. He also thanked the millions around the world that stood with his people during his nation’s fight for freedom.
“We experienced a like wall of fire in the support, the prayers and the concern of the international community during our struggle against the viciousness of apartheid,” he said. “I met a nun in New York once and I asked her to tell me about her life. She said she was a solitary and lived in the woods in California at the time. Her day started at 2 in the morning and she added that prayed for me. I said, ‘Hey, here I am being prayed for at 2 in the morning in the woods in California; what chance does the South African apartheid government stand?’”
You will find the link of edited excerpts of his Toronto address that Policy Options magazine published at this link: https://www.policymagazine.ca/democracy-forgiveness-and-the-miracle-of-defied-expectations-desmond-tutus-speech-to-the-university-of-toronto/
Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist. He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy. A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.