Nyameko barney pityana biography samples
•
•
Nations walk similar paths, Pityana observes
Nations
walk similar paths, Pityana observes
BY DANA BENSON
Special to the Rice News
In his Jan. 20
talk at Rice University, South African human rights leader
Nyameko Barney Pityana commemorated Martin Luther King Jr.s
contributions to American society. But he reminded the audience
that King was a world figure as well.
On the anniversary
of Kings birth, Pityana said, We record his
gigantic contribution as a leader of the movement dedicated
to the transformation of American society. He became the
conscience of a nation, a moral force that pulled this nation
back to its founding values.
But Im
here today because Dr. King was not just an American. He
was a world figure. He awakened Americans to their world
responsibilities, Pityana said, noting that King made
Americans more aware not just of the struggle for civil
rights in the United States, but also of the liberation
struggles and movement in Africa.
Pityanas
speech, titled Liberation, Civil Rights and Democracy:
The United States and South Africa 2004, was the Martin
Luther King Jr. Lecture, which is held annually as part
of Rices Presidents Lecture Series.
Pityana, who
was the f
•
The Order of the Baobab in Silver
Barney Pityana (1945 - ) Awarded for:
His excellent contribution to a just and democratic South Africa and for the spiritual upliftment of the oppresses.
Profile of Barney Pityana
Nyameko Barney Pityana was born on 7 August 1945 in Uitenhage in the Eastern Cape. An exceptional child, the young Pityana earned the Andrew Smith Scholarship that enabled him to attend Lovedale, a progressive Scottish-run missionary school in Alice.
During his senior years at Lovedale, Pityana began to develop an interest in politics and joined the African National Congress Youth League. But it was also a period in which the relatively liberal ethos of Lovedale was being replaced by a conservative culture, through the introduction of Afrikaans-speaking teachers. In 1963, Pityana was expelled from Lovedale for forcefully articulating the inequities of Bantu education and the apartheid system.
After completing matric at Newell High School in New Brighton, Port Elizabeth, Pityana enrolled at the then University College of Fort Hare in 1966 where his political activism and commitment intensified. He became very involved in various progressive Christian organisations. He became a founder member of the University Christian Movement and later the South African St