JOHANNESBURG — Desmond Tutu, South Africa’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning activist for racial justice, has died at 90. Tutu was an uncompromising foe of apartheid, South Africa’s brutal regime of oppression against its Black majority.
The buoyant, blunt-spoken clergyman used his pulpit as the first Black bishop of Johannesburg and later as the Archbishop of Cape Town, as well as frequent protests, to galvanize public opinion against racial inequity.
He was also a leading advocate for LGBTQ rights and same-sex marriage.
Former U.S. President Barack Obama hailed Tutu as “a moral compass for me and so many others.”
The Dalai Lama, a good friend of Tutu’s, said Tutu was “entirely dedicated to serving his brothers and sisters for the greater common good.” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called him “an inspiration to generations.”