McDaniel College hosts inaugural Black History Month Convocation
The inaugural Black History Month Convocation at McDaniel College features human rights activist Rev. Nontombi Naomi Tutu on Wednesday, Feb. 16. The hour-long event takes place at 6 p.m. (doors open at 5:45 p.m.) in WMC Alumni Hall and is free and open to the public. A livestream via Zoom will also be available through advance registration.
McDaniel College hosts the inaugural Black History Month Convocation featuring human rights activist Rev. Nontombi Naomi Tutu. The hour-long event takes place Wed., Feb. 16, at 6 p.m. (doors open at 5:45 p.m.), in WMC Alumni Hall and is free and open to the public. A livestream via Zoom will also be available through advance registration.
The Rev. Nontombi Naomi Tutu is the featured speaker for McDaniel's inaugural Black History Month Convocation.
Rev. Tutu shares her experiences as a human rights advocate as well as growing up as the daughter of the late Desmond Tutu in apartheid South Africa.
Rev. Nontombi Naomi Tutu is the third child of the late Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, who died Dec. 26, 2021, at the age of 90, and Nomalizo Leah Tutu. She was born in South Africa and has divided her adult life between South Africa and the United States.
The challenges of growing up Black and female in apartheid South Africa have inspired her activism for human rights. Those experiences taught her that our whole human family loses when we accept situations of oppression, and how the teaching and preaching hate and division injure us all.
She started her public speaking as a college student at Berea College in Kentucky in the 1970s and her professional experience ranges from being a development consultant in West Africa to coordinating programs on race and gender, as well as gender-based violence prevention education at the African Gender Institute at the University of Cape Town. She is a consultant for the Spiritual Alliance to Stop Intimate Violence (SAIV) and the Foundation for Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa (FHSSA).
This inaugural Black History Month Convocation was founded by McDaniel College President Julia Jasken as a new signature event to be held annually at McDaniel in recognition of Black History Month. This annual event will provide an opportunity to hear from prominent individuals working towards social justice and racial equity.
Welcome remarks will be provided by President Jasken and Richard M. Smith, associate provost for equity and belonging at McDaniel, will introduce Rev. Tutu.
