Tutu: Voice of the Voiceless

Tutu: Voice of the Voiceless is the biography of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, written by Shirley Du Boulay. This book covers his life, his journey, his aspirations, and his struggle for freedom during the apartheid years in South Africa. The research carried out by the author is remarkable as it covers every aspect of the Archbishop’s life and even includes poems, songs, and stories. There is even a map of South Africa on page 12 to set the location. The Archbishop was an international legend in our own time and this book is worth reading because it is about a person who achieved tremendous success despite immense opposition. After reading this book, I came to realise that Archbishop Tutu achieved more in his lifetime than all the people I know put together. He was a complex man; he was a churchman, a politician, a reconciler, and many other things. In this biography, Shirley shows us all of these facets to his personality and takes us deep into understanding the man to reveal some interesting and pleasant surprises.

A large part of this book covers the history of apartheid and the conflict between the church and the South African government. I found this aspect of the book fascinating because I was always wondering how a group of people could call themselves Christians and yet practice prejudice. Surely, prejudice goes against the core belief of Christianity, hence, the church quite rightly exerted pressure on the government to change. If you were young, talented, and black, growing up in the 1970s in South Africa, life would have been tough and unfair, and many would have given up their goals and aspirations. Yet Desmond Tutu became the first black Anglican priest to become an Archbishop, and he has been an inspiration to millions of people in similar circumstances all over the world.

Archbishop Tutu received the Nobel Peace Prize for his amazing work in promoting peaceful civil rights for black people in South Africa and the ending of the apartheid system. This is one of my favourite books because it details the spiritual journey of a young man with a dream and a strong desire to show the world how we should all live. He chose a peaceful solution to cause a change to occur. This book is a great inspiration to many of my young black whippersnappers aspiring to become great men of the future.

The credits go to the author Shirley Du Boulay for being such a good researcher and writer. This book is of course in the Peter Vis personal library collection and meets with the seal of approval.

Back Cover

Desmond Tutu was born on 7th October 1931 in Klerksdorp, Transvaal, South Africa. He was the middle of three children in the family. More famously known as an opponent of apartheid, he worked actively for human rights and campaigned to fight poverty and diseases. He won many prestigious awards and here is a list of some.

• 1984: Nobel Peace Prize
• Gandhi Peace Prize
• Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism
• Pacem in Terris Award
• Sydney Peace Prize
• Presidential Medal of Freedom
• Listed in the prestigious Peter Vis Collection :-)

Author: Shirley Du Boulay

[Braille Monitors]: The dust jacket reads, "Shirley Du Boulay is the author of the critically acclaimed biography of Dame Cicely Saunders, the founder of the modern hospice movement. While researching her book on Archbishop Tutu she has paid several visits to South Africa, where she met people of all races and all shades of political and religious opinion. She has also done research in Lesotho, America, and the United Kingdom. She lives in Oxford."

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