Join us for a new series of online discussions with activists about the lessons they have learned while working long-term with people who share their goals but not their identities. Our first event will be with the Rev. Nontombi Naomi Tutu and Rose Bator on Thursday, May 20th from 6:30 to 7:45 PM (ET).

Register on Zoom at bit.ly/PMCJUST1

Our intention is to illuminate challenges and rewards of communicating with others across historically divided lines of identity:

• to grow self-awareness of implicit bias and assumptions;

• to acknowledge the vulnerability required to have deep conversations;

• to gain insight in ways of listening and working with silence;

• to recognize the power and benefit of our interconnectedness.

The Rev. Tami Forte Logan, Facilitator

Rev. Tami Forte Logan is the Equity Missioner of Faith 4 Justice Asheville – “faith leaders in the Asheville region provoking justice for and with Black and Brown bodied people through faith and racial equity work.” Tami is also a womanist, wife, mother, grandmother, preacher, Christian educator, popular educator, community organizer, cultural organizer, the business owner of Inside & Out Consulting, and a long-term racial equity facilitator and practitioner.

The Rev. Nontombi Naomi Tutu, Panelist

The challenges of growing Black and female in apartheid South Africa have been the foundation of Naomi’s life as an activist for human rights. Those experiences taught her that our whole human family loses when we accept situations of oppression, and how the teaching and preaching hate and division injure us all.   

Rev. Tutu is the third child Archbishop Desmond and Nomalizo Leah Tutu.  She was born in South Africa and had the opportunity to live in many communities and countries.   She was educated in Swaziland, the US and England, and has divided her adult life between South Africa and the US.   Growing up the ‘daughter of …’ has offered Naomi Tutu many opportunities and challenges in her life.  Perhaps one of the greatest challenges she has struggled with is the call to ministry.  From early in her life she would say, “I have my father’s nose, I do not want his job!” Yet this call refused to be silenced. Even as she carried her passion for justice into other fields, the call to preach and serve as an ordained clergyperson continued to tug at her.  Finally, in her 50’s she responded to the call and went to seminary. 

Her professional experience ranges from being a development consultant in West Africa, to being program coordinator for programs on Race and Gender and Gender-based Violence in Education at the African Gender Institute at the University of Cape Town.  In addition, Rev. Tutu has taught at the University of Hartford, University of Connecticut and Brevard College in North Carolina.  She served as Program Coordinator for the historic Race Relations Institute at Fisk University, and was a part of the Institute’s delegation to the World Conference Against Racism in Durban.  

She started her public speaking as a college student at Berea College in Kentucky in the 1970’s when she was invited to speak at churches, community groups and colleges and universities about her experiences growing up in apartheid South Africa.  Since that time, she has become a much sought after speaker to groups as varied as business associations, professional conferences, elected officials and church and civic organizations.  

As well as speaking and preaching Rev. Tutu has established Nozizwe Consulting.  Nozizwe means Mother of Many Lands, in her mother tongue Xhosa and is the name she was given by her maternal grandmother.  The guiding principle of Nozizwe Consulting is to bring different groups together to learn from and celebrate their differences and acknowledge their shared humanity.  As part of this work she has led Truth and Reconciliation Workshops for groups dealing with different types of conflict.  She has also offered educational and partnership trips to South Africa for groups as varied as high schools, churches, hospices, K-12 teachers, and women’s associations.  These trips emphasize the opportunities to share our stories and experiences.

Rev. Tutu is the recipient of four honorary doctorates from universities and colleges in the US and Nigeria.  Rev. Tutu is an ordained clergy in the Episcopal Church.  She most recently served as Canon Missioner for Racial and Economic Equity at the Cathedral of All Souls, in Asheville, NC.  This Fall she will be taking the position of Associate Rector at All Saints, Beverly Hill, CA.  She is the single mother of two daughters and a son.

Rose Bator, Panelist

Rose believes that “we are all in this together,” because we belong to one another.

Because of this, she has dedicated her professional life to seeding connections and collaborations.

Rose’s passion for justice was nurtured through her 31 year membership in a women’s Catholic religious community.

One formative experience in her life was the opportunity to be a USA delegate to an international conference “Leadership For The 21st Century” in Ahmedabad, India. Intense conversation and reflection with delegates from 53 countries led to shared consensus that global sustainability is dependent on developing leaders for change. Leadership for change, which involves every person, regardless of role or position, is grounded in relationships of respect, humility, equality, honest dialogue, and justice.

Being the change you want to see” (Gandhi) has been Rose’s long-term guiding mantra. She founded and directed Common Ground, a retreat center in Ohio, focused on deepening our connection with and respect for Earth and each other.

Rose and Naomi co-founded and co-facilitated Sister-Sojourners, a series of retreats bringing women from the United States to be with women in South Africa, for learning from and with one another, for discovering shared visions and dreams.

She has served and consulted for many organizations and communities in their goal of collaborating and creating new visions for a better future.

Currently, Rose is doing Wholeness Coaching with people experiencing transition in their lives. She also designs and facilitates retreats for adults in life transition shifts, and is a Senior Consultant with the telos institute, a Cleveland based company whose mission is “to liberate greatness” in organizations and individuals.

Rose earned a BA in English and Education, and an MA from Boston College in Theology and Pastoral Counseling.