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africa
November 2009 
Ubuntu: Reflections of a South African on Our Common Humanity
Posted on Jul 6th, 2009
by 
Albert
Albert
In my search for various cultural cores of identity building I found this very clear presentation for the African Ubuntu. I met Barbara Nussbaum at Facebook. And we found lots of conectivity already via the work and journal of Nancy Roof at
www.kosmosjournal.org
I feel practiced Ubuntu is a great gift from South Africa. Therefore I want to present the article here:
Ubuntu: Reflections of a South AFrican on Our Common Humanity
REFLECTIONS, Volume 4, Number 4
q 2003 by the Society for Organizational
Learning and the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology.
21
Ubuntu: Reections of
a South African on Our
Common Humanity
Barbara Nussbaum
African values could contribute much to world consciousness, but people in the West misunderstand Africa for many reasons. First, Africa’s traditional culture is inaccessible because most of it is oral rather than written and lived rather than formally communicated in books or journals; it is difficult to learn about from a distance. Second, many African political leaders betrayed the philosophical and humanitarian principles on which African culture is based, and political failures in African countries tend to tarnish the views of many Westerners. Third, people in the West, for whatever reason, receive negative,
limited information through themedia; images of ethnic wars, dictatorships, famine,and AIDS predominate, so the potential contribution of African values is often lost.
I have chosen to write about the inspiring dimensions of African values that rarely make their way into mainstream US news media. I write because of a strengthening conviction that Africa has something important to contribute to a change of heart needed in the world. This need for change has become clearer in my own mind since September 11; there is no doubt that our world must embrace a sense of interconnectedness as a global
community if we are to survive. I share here some personal reections about Africa.1 I seek to articulate some of the beauty and power of ubuntu, an underlying social philosophy of African culture.
Ubuntuis the capacity in African culture to express compassion, reciprocity, dignity, harmony, and humanity in the interests of building and maintaining community. Ubuntu calls onus to believe and feel that:
Your pain is My pain,
My wealth is Your wealth,
Your salvation is My salvation.
In essence, ubuntu, an Nguni word from South Africa, addresses our interconnectedness, our common humanity, and the responsibility to each other that ows from our connection.The eclipse of ubuntu has darkened the spirit of modern-day African political systems.However, imagine the potential of ubuntu’s sunlight, were it to be embraced as a vital part of the African renaissance or even as Africa’s contribution to help a divided,fragmented world.
Nhlanhla Mkhize, a South African psychologist, explains that self is rooted in community in several traditional African cultures in South Africa:The African view of personhood denies that a person can be described solely in terms of the
physical and psychological properties. It is with reference to the community that a person is de.ned. The importance of the community in self-de.nition is summed up by Mbiti, ‘‘I am because we are, and since we are, therefore Iam.’’. . . It is this rootedness of the self-incommunity that gives rise to sayings such as umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu (Nguni)/Motho kemotho ka batho babang (Sotho). These roughly translate to, ‘‘It is through others that one attains selfhood.’’ The Venda saying, Muthu u bebelwa munwe (a person is born for the
other), also captures the interdependence between self and community (Mkhize, 1998: 1).
read more..
www.kosmosjournal.org
I feel practiced Ubuntu is a great gift from South Africa. Therefore I want to present the article here:
Ubuntu: Reflections of a South AFrican on Our Common Humanity
REFLECTIONS, Volume 4, Number 4
q 2003 by the Society for Organizational
Learning and the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology.
21
Ubuntu: Reections of
a South African on Our
Common Humanity
Barbara Nussbaum
African values could contribute much to world consciousness, but people in the West misunderstand Africa for many reasons. First, Africa’s traditional culture is inaccessible because most of it is oral rather than written and lived rather than formally communicated in books or journals; it is difficult to learn about from a distance. Second, many African political leaders betrayed the philosophical and humanitarian principles on which African culture is based, and political failures in African countries tend to tarnish the views of many Westerners. Third, people in the West, for whatever reason, receive negative,
limited information through themedia; images of ethnic wars, dictatorships, famine,and AIDS predominate, so the potential contribution of African values is often lost.
I have chosen to write about the inspiring dimensions of African values that rarely make their way into mainstream US news media. I write because of a strengthening conviction that Africa has something important to contribute to a change of heart needed in the world. This need for change has become clearer in my own mind since September 11; there is no doubt that our world must embrace a sense of interconnectedness as a global
community if we are to survive. I share here some personal reections about Africa.1 I seek to articulate some of the beauty and power of ubuntu, an underlying social philosophy of African culture.
Ubuntuis the capacity in African culture to express compassion, reciprocity, dignity, harmony, and humanity in the interests of building and maintaining community. Ubuntu calls onus to believe and feel that:
Your pain is My pain,
My wealth is Your wealth,
Your salvation is My salvation.
In essence, ubuntu, an Nguni word from South Africa, addresses our interconnectedness, our common humanity, and the responsibility to each other that ows from our connection.The eclipse of ubuntu has darkened the spirit of modern-day African political systems.However, imagine the potential of ubuntu’s sunlight, were it to be embraced as a vital part of the African renaissance or even as Africa’s contribution to help a divided,fragmented world.
Nhlanhla Mkhize, a South African psychologist, explains that self is rooted in community in several traditional African cultures in South Africa:The African view of personhood denies that a person can be described solely in terms of the
physical and psychological properties. It is with reference to the community that a person is de.ned. The importance of the community in self-de.nition is summed up by Mbiti, ‘‘I am because we are, and since we are, therefore Iam.’’. . . It is this rootedness of the self-incommunity that gives rise to sayings such as umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu (Nguni)/Motho kemotho ka batho babang (Sotho). These roughly translate to, ‘‘It is through others that one attains selfhood.’’ The Venda saying, Muthu u bebelwa munwe (a person is born for the
other), also captures the interdependence between self and community (Mkhize, 1998: 1).
read more..
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