August 13, 2009

Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town Desmond Tutu and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor were among 16 people honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, presented by President Barack Obama at an August 12 awards ceremony at the White House in Washington, D.C.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Tutu is a leading anti-apartheid activist and O'Connor, an Episcopalian, was the first woman appointed to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.

"With unflagging devotion to justice, indomitable optimism, and an unmistakable sense of humor, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Mpilo Tutu has stirred the world's conscience for decades," said Obama as he presented the medal, the United States' highest civil honor, to the former primate of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa.

Obama acknowledged that Tutu had "helped lead South Africa through a turning point in modern history, and … helped heal wounds and lay the foundation for a new nation. Desmond Tutu continues to give voice to the voiceless and bring hope to those who thirst for freedom."

Tutu served as the general secretary of the South African Council of Churches (SACC) from 1978–1985. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his work through SACC. He served as archbishop of Cape Town and primate of Southern Africa from 1986-1996, and was appointed chair of the South Africa Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1995.

"The glint in the eye and the lilt in the voice are familiar to us all. But the signature quality of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, says Nelson Mandela, is a readiness to take unpopular stands without fear. Perhaps that explains what led the Arch, as he's known, to preach amid tear gas and police dogs, rallying a people against apartheid," Obama said.

"And later, when a free South Africa needed a heart big enough to forgive its sins, Archbishop Desmond Tutu was called to serve once more – as chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Tribune of the downtrodden, voice of the oppressed, cantor of our conscience, Desmond Tutu possesses that sense of generosity, that spirit of unity, that essence of humanity that South Africans know simply as Ubuntu."

The award is intended to recognize individuals who have made "an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors."

Justice O'Connor "has paved the way for millions of women to achieve their dreams," said Obama. "Completing law school in just two years, she graduated third in her class at a time when women rarely entered the legal profession. With grace and humor, tenacity and intelligence, she rose to become the first woman on the United States Supreme Court. Her historic 25-term tenure on the Court was defined by her integrity and independence, and she has earned the nation's lasting gratitude for her invaluable contributions to history and the law."

Prior to her appointment as Supreme Court Justice, O'Connor was a state trial and an appellate judge in Arizona. She was also a member of the Arizona state senate, where she became the first woman in the United States to lead a state senate as majority leader.

Since her retirement, O'Connor has served as chancellor of the College of William and Mary, on the Board of Trustees of the National Constitution Center, and participated in the Iraq Study Group in 2006. She has also given numerous lectures on public service, according to a White House news release.

"A judge and Arizona legislator, cancer survivor, child of the Texas plains, Sandra Day O'Connor is like the pilgrim in the poem she sometime quotes who has forged a new trail and built a bridge behind her for all young women to follow," said Obama.

The other 2009 medal recipients are Nancy Goodman Brinker, Pedro Jose Greer, Jr., Stephen Hawking, Edward Kennedy, Billie Jean King, Joseph Lowery, Joe Medicine Crow – High Bird, Sidney Poitier, Chita Rivera, Mary Robinson, Janet Davison Rowley and Muhammad Yunus. Former congressman Jack Kemp, who died in May, and gay rights activist Harvey Milk, who died in 1978, received posthumous awards.

"The men and women we honor today have led very different lives and pursued very different careers. They're pioneers in science and medicine. They're gifted artists and indomitable athletes. They have made their mark in the courtroom, in the community, and in Congress," said Obama. "And what unites them is a belief ... that our lives are what we make of them; that no barriers of race, gender, or physical infirmity can restrain the human spirit; and that the truest test of a person's life is what we do for one another."

An official White House news release is available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/A-Thank-You-to-Some-of-the-Finest-Citizens-in-the-World.

Episcopal News Service