No Future Without Forgiveness

Originally published in 1999, No Future Without Forgiveness is the memoir of Desmond Mpilo Tutu. Tutu won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1984 for his efforts to end apartheid in South Africa. He served as Archbishop of the Anglican Church in Cape Town and later chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which President Mandela established to help address the atrocities of apartheid.

Although Tutu’s memoir focuses on his work with the TRC between 1995 and 1998, it also details historical events and his own experiences as a Black South African from 1960 through 1994, which was the period under the TRC’s investigation. The book became an international best seller, and human rights courses often include it as assigned reading.

Summary

Tutu opens by describing the significance of South Africa’s first democratic election on April 27, 1994, a transformative moment in the nation’s history. Tutu chose to drive to a Johannesburg “ghetto township” to cast his vote. Black South African people, long oppressed and denied a vote, felt pride and exhilaration in the act of voting. The moment was liberating for the country’s white people too, as they felt the shame of apartheid lift.