BRATTLEBORO — The Windham World Affairs Council will present “A New Pattern for Democracy: Lessons from South Africa's Nobel Peace Prize-winner Albert Luthuli” on Sunday, Feb. 21, from 4 to 5:30 p.m.
Rev. Dr. Scott Couper, pastor of Centre Congregational Church (United Church of Christ) and a member of the Windham World Affairs board, will lead the discussion via Zoom.
Albert Luthuli, from South Africa, was a longtime president-general of the African National Congress (ANC), as well as being the first Black African to receive the Nobel Peace Prize (1960). Yet his name is virtually unknown outside of South Africa, especially compared to his much-more-famous comrade, Nelson Mandela.
Couper will give a talk on Luthuli which draws from his doctoral research, as well as from his experiences ministering in what had been Luthuli's church in South Africa. He will consider the legacy of white supremacy, apartheid, and truth and reconciliation commissions in South Africa, and he will draw comparisons between the types of systemic racism that operate in South Africa and those in the United States.
While serving in Groutville, South Africa, in what had been Luthuli's church, Couper became inspired by him and began researching his life and politics.
His eventual dissertation on Luthuli was published as a book, Albert Luthuli: Bound by Faith (University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, 2010). It remains the sole substantive biography of Luthuli.
This re-evaluation of South Africa's mythologized and idealized liberation narrative drew much public criticism from South Africa's ANC political elite. Despite the biography's vilification as “political heresy,” Couper's archival primary source evidence and arguments persuaded academics throughout South Africa. Today, much of South Africa's educational curricula now reflect the critical re-evaluations that Couper urged concerning Luthuli.
Couper received a B.A. (1990) in international relations at the School of International Service at the American University in Washington, D.C. While an undergraduate he studied in Chile, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe, the latter two through the School for International Training in Brattleboro.
In 1999, he earned a master's of divinity at the University of Chicago and Chicago Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D (2008) in historical studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa.
From 1999 until 2018, when he relocated to Brattleboro, Couper lived in the Republic of South Africa, where he served as an ordained minister of several rural Zulu congregations. He also served the African church as an HIV and AIDS project coordinator as Africa suffered the brunt of the global pandemic.
Registration is required, and the Zoom link can be found at windhamworldaffairscouncil.org. As with all WWAC talks, this event is free, and all are welcome.