Author, lecturer, outspoken critic of Apartheid, civil rights activist, religious leader — Desmond Tutu has done it all. Spending most of his life under the legal Apartheid segregation system that gave the white African minority nearly full control of the land and civil institutions of South Africa, he helped his family make ends meet by re-selling oranges bought from a market miles away and peanuts at railways stations. When he could not find the money to attend medical school, he entered the priesthood.

On this day, September 7, in 1986, now Bishop Desmond Tutu became the first black person to become the head of Anglican Church in South Africa. In his position as a religious leader, Tutu unflinchingly led the fight against Apartheid, and while the government cracked down on his freedoms, the people championed his cause.

Tutu was particularly active Soweto riots of 1976. South African students began a nationwide protest against their inferior education, and the police responded by shooting at the crowds. As the Vicar General, Tutu brought together both parents and students, preaching reconciliation. Still, Tutu supported the rioters with a boycott, and helped to establish the Soweto Parents Crisis Committee in the aftermath of the killings.