Episode 60 - RECOVERING ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU'S RADICALISM

Sisonke Msimang joined me to debate whether or not, when his legacy is properly considered, Archbishop Desmond Tutu can be located along the spectrum of Black Radical Thought. Msimang argues that not only is Tutu undeniably radical in his racial politics, but that we should also push back against notions of non-racialism that wrongly associate the doctrine with colourblindness and polite politics. Tutu's allyship on the question of same-sex love and relationships shows his intersectional politics within the church, itself a manifestation of his radicalism.I also explored with Sisonke what the achivements and limitations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission were, and how much of the shortcomings are to be  attributed to Tutu as such and how much of our incomplete justice project is to be blamed on the failures of the democratic state and other non-state actors. We ended off by exploring the fullness of Tutu's humanity, how his personal biography tracks the biography of the country and, lastly, why we should stop having existential crises about the moral giants of yesteryear no longer being with us, and rather embracing our generation's moral challenges by taking seriously our own agentive powers to complete the justice project.