One gift, one voice, one dream

It took Naomi Tutu years to figure out that her gift was talking. She said it used to get her in trouble in church and in school, but now Tutu uses her voice to spread the message of the "power of one" to people around the globe. \nIn light of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Tutu, a human-rights activist and educator, spoke on the importance of finding one's own gift to more than 200 people Sunday in the Indiana Memorial Union, part of IU's weeklong celebration of the civil-rights leader. \nExemplifying the work and message of King, Tutu stressed the importance of everyone's individual gifts and how they can be used to shape the world. She asserted that every individual has the power within himself to make a difference like Martin Luther King Jr. did.\n"The message of Martin Luther King Jr. is that each and every one of us can change the way our world is," she said. "We don't all have to do the big things. It's often the small things that impact those around us." \nTutu, the daughter of celebrated South African cleric and activist Desmond Tutu, was born in South Africa. She formed the Tutu Foundation for Development and Relief in Southern Africa, which aids African refugees in becoming self-supporting. Tutu has lived all over the world and taught at various universities throughout the United States. \nTutu stressed the enormous impact one person can make by using his or her natural gifts for a greater purpose. \n"The reality is, we all have a gift," Tutu said. "Every single one of us has a gift that this world needs. Your gift is that thing that comes most naturally to you, the thing you most enjoy." \nFinding a gift is only part of the equation, and determining how to use it is equally as important, Tutu said.\n"We have a choice and a chance when we discover our gift," she said. "We can use our gift to make the world a better place, or we can use it to enrich ourselves, or even worse, we can use our gift to harm others and make the world a worse place. That's where the difference is between those who make a positive and those who make a negative contribution." \nThroughout her speech, Tutu used her own experiences to help the audience members understand her message.\n"I thought it was a very good presentation, because she evoked what Martin Luther King Jr. did but talked about his work in a way that everyone could relate to," said Charlie Nelms, vice president for institutional development and student affairs. "There was something in it that spoke to all of us."\nTutu advised the audience not to be colorblind but to embrace and appreciate others' differences. She also talked about sexism and homophobia during her speech and argued that questioning what we think we know about others will open our minds.\n"The greatest chance we have in our lives is to question that fear, mistrust, suspicion, to give ourselves the chance to see the human being in that other, that they have hopes and dreams and fears, just as we do," she said. "That is the chance to make our world a place to celebrate the different cultures and languages that live in this world." \nDuring a Q-and-A period that followed Tutu's speech, audience members asked questions about issues including race, diversity and equality. \n"She puts a good spin on these issues and the idea that we should embrace the differences of people is really very important," said graduate student Dawn Smith.\nTutu expressed her frustration with those who claim they don't see the differences in people and she asserted that they are living in a state of denial.\n"We want to be at a place where we say, 'I see the different colors, the different shapes, the different cultures, and I give thanks for them," Tutu said.