Reactions are coming in from around the world to the death of Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Archbishop of Cape Town Desmond Tutu at the age of 90.

Throughout the 1980’s when South Africa was gripped by anti-apartheid violence and a state of emergency giving police and the military sweeping powers, Tutu was one of the most prominent Blacks able to speak out against abuses.

With the end of apartheid and South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994, Tutu celebrated the country’s multi-racial society, calling it a “rainbow nation,” a phrase that captured the heady optimism of the moment.