Trevor Huddleston
Isabelle Kapoian
Trevor Huddleston Biography
Father Huddleston’s notoriety in the African’s liberation movement made him a target for the government, so Huddleston returned to England where he wrote and published Naught for your Comfort. In 1959, Huddleston formed the Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM). Huddleston was consecrated as various Bishops until in 1983 he retired from the Episcopal office.
Huddleston then focused only on the anti-apartheid movement:
- He led an AAM delegation to meet Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
- Huddleston addressed the United Nations Special Committee Against Apartheid
- In 1987 he organized the Harare International Conference on ‘Children, Repression and the Law in Apartheid’
- In 1988 Huddleston initiated the ‘Nelson Mandela Freedom at 70’ campaign
- Participated in the ‘Nelson Mandela Freedom March’
- Huddleston and Archbishop Desmond Tutu addressed a rally at Hyde Park
Huddleston became the founder and president of Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA), which was the successor to the AAM. Father Huddleston died on April 20, 1998 from a heart attack. His ashes were placed next to the Church of Christ the King in Sophiatown.
Trevor Huddleston Significance to the Anti-Apartheid Movement
Even after he left South Africa, his published book, "Naught for Your Comfort" greatly protested the apartheid system. 250,000 copies of it were sold and the notoriety that it received internationally brought light to apartheid and to the anti-apartheid movement, especially in Britain. This marked the beginning of Huddleston's international fight against apartheid. He was the founding member of the Anti Apartheid Movement and served as its Vice President and then President. The Anti Apartheid Movement which was at the center of the international anti apartheid campaign. He was also the founding patron of Action for Southern Africa which was its successor. While out of South Africa he worked closely with Desmond Tutu, influencing him greatly. His work in these organizations spread the message of anti apartheid internationally. They garnered the support and sympathy of many around the world and allowed the anti-apartheid movement to expand much greater than it would have from a center in the more remote and less communicative South Africa.
His work helped to bring together different leaders, countries, and people to help unite and strengthen the anti-apartheid movement. He is known to this day as one of the most influential white members of the anti-apartheid movement.
A Prayer for Africa by Trevor Huddleston
Guide our children
Guard our leaders
And give us peace
For Jesus Christ's sake. Amen"
Archbishop Trevor Huddleston Speech
Resources
"A Prayer for Africa by Trevor Huddleston." Church of the Good Shepherd- Protea. Web. 12 Nov. 2015.
"Archbishop Trevor Huddleston." Action for Southern Africa. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.
"Father Trevor Huddleston." South African History Online. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.
http://www.colindaylinks.com/dayspast/personalities40s.html
http://www.engbdf.org/index.php/people-of-bedfordshire/22-huddleston-trevor
https://www.flickr.com/photos/90707524@N00/222887600
https://gbengaaborowa.wordpress.com/2014/10/01/getinformed-hero-father-trevor-huddlestone/
http://www.trushare.com/0220%20August%202013/29trevor_huddleston.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFYTT3RxSK8
Pace, Eric. "Archbishop Trevor Huddleston, 84, Dies; Fought Apartheid From Its Earliest Days." The New York Times. The New York Times, 20 Apr. 1998. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.