When it comes to famous or well known people, Nontombi Naomi Tutu likes to find the stories behind the stories. Tutu, the daughter of South African social rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu, said her spiritual adviser told her to keep in mind, "When you do something, be aware that it speaks about everything you do."
She took time to research the thoughts and words of Martin Luther King Jr. in an attempt to find the story behind his story and to learn about him as a private figure rather than just a public figure.
"What I love about Dr. King is that what we see in the public figure is pretty much what we see in the private figure," Tutu said. "When he spoke about loving one another, respecting the humanity of all people ... it was something that he lived."
William Woods University hosted Tutu Thursday night as part of its week-long celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and as part of the school's President's Concert and Lecture series. Tutu spoke at 6 p.m. in Cutlip Auditorium where she shared with those in attendance what she knew King's behind-the-scenes story and those of other public figures.
When others called King a trouble maker and when others denied prejudice existed, he responded to them with respect. But, he also challenged their ideas.
"He didn't belittle or dehumanize them, however, he did challenge them," Tutu said.
Tutu said challenging injustice while not belittling others will lead to change and a just world.
During the question and answer portion of Tutu's talk Thursday night, someone asked her for advice on how to sort through information available online and in the media about various issues to best know how to react and work toward change. Tutu encouraged them research all the information they read. She also directed them to focus their research on an area they are passion about, an area where they can work toward "a just world." She said through that research, they can discover what their role can be to create change.
Tutu said her role is still becoming clear.
"For me, part of the role is putting together your concern in the world with a gift and a passion. My concern has been race and gender and one of my passions has been speaking. Putting together my love of speaking with the struggle for gender and racial justice - I travel, speaking trying to have people stop and think about their place in the gender and racial injustice that we experience in the world."
When she was growing up, Tutu said she often got in trouble for talking during school and church.
"I always knew I loved talking, but I never realized that speaking and talking were similar things," Tutu said.
She said it wasn't until she came to the U.S. and attended college in Kentucky that people asked her to speak. Then, she realized that speaking could be something positive rather than something that was always getting her into trouble.
Tutu started speaking publicly in the 1970s. At first, she spoke at Berea College in Kentucky where she attended school. She also spoke at churches and community groups there about her life growing up in apartheid South Africa. She continues to travel and speak today, but on a larger scale.
Tutu said that one way to honor those who have worked toward change, like King, is to look at one another as human beings, to be courageous and to have enough passion to listen to others' stories.
"I think we have that," Tutu said.
More and more young people, Tutu said, are showing signs that they have both passion and a vision for change. She added that there is still too much energy focused around labeling those who point out a problem as the problem themselves. She drew parallels between that struggle and the struggle King went through.
"When he pointed out that we do not have equality and freedom in this country, he was seen as a troublemaker," Tutu said. "We still have that. That the fact of pointing out what is wrong then is made the issue rather than the fact that people are saying this is the issue, this is the problem and we want to fix that problem."
The world, Tutu said, is still working toward King's dream and still living in his struggle.
"Today, in this country, we are divided," Tutu said.
She said the U.S. is divided by religious preference, sexual orientation and race. To bridge those gaps, she said everyone has to be willing to look at one another as a human being and to listen to all of the experiences.
Tutu gave an example of a time she put aside what was taught and looked at someone as a human being instead of an "other." In her example, she also gave those in attendance a peak at the story behind her own story.
Not too long after finishing her master's, Tutu visited South Africa, which was in a state of emergency at the time. Upon her arrival, she rented a car to drive to visit her cousins. She was stopped on her way at a road block. Tutu said she had always been taught to show resistance and attitude when stopped at road blocks. So, she did as she was taught. She stepped out of her car as instructed, but did so with attitude.
Tutu said she then looked at the young man searching her car and described him as looking terrified. She decided to talk to him. She politely joked with him and the two of them had a conversation while he searched her car.
"For those few minutes, I saw a young man and not a soldier and I believe that for those few minutes he saw a young woman and not a potential terrorist." Tutu said. "And sometimes, that is all we can ask."