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Values in African Thought

Ubuntu: Africa's gift to the modern world

The word “Ubuntu” is an ethic or African humanist philosophy that focuses on people's allegiances and relations with one another. With its origins in the Bantu languages of Southern Africa, this traditional African concept is defined in its simplest form as the “art of being human”. The word “Ubuntu” itself is Zulu and inspires us to embrace and learn from other people, even as we learn from ourselves. Ubuntu is the humanistic experience of treating all people, irrespective of who they are, or where they come from, as human beings living together in one lager community of beings. Ubuntu is an African view of life and world view. In the African context, Ubuntu speaks to our interconnectedness and the responsibility we all have to one another that flows from our connection, hence the saying. “umuntu ngamuntu ngabantu”, meaning, it is through others that an individual actualizes and attains selfhood. Ubuntu is the humanistic experience of treating all people with respect and granting them their human dignity. Its philosophy is race neutral and treats all people as humans living in one large community.

Ubuntu refers to “humanness” as in the past, clearly demonstrated in the preservation and stability of African communities. It is the basis for African morality, cooperation, community, compassion and concern for the collective interests and common good, respect for others, and the dignity of personhood, in social conducts and relationships. Ubuntu is the daily and conscious unfolding of our natural goodness. As every human being is a being in the becoming, Ubuntu presents us with this opportunity to discover our basic human goodness and to put it into daily, conscious and constant practice. Again, “Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu”, meaning, I am because you are. It is through you that I am a human being. From an Ubuntu perspective therefore, every human being is expected to act kindly, to be friendly, generous, compassionate, peaceful and in harmony, not only with himself or herself, but with the environment and others, and at one with the Creator. Ubuntu is Africa's special gift to the modern world; a world which according to Gabriel Marcel is broken and fragmented like a broken watch.

Some of the great Pillars of living an Ubuntu life include, but not limited to the following:

a. Sharing: Ubuntu encourages people to share generously with others, even from the little that they have. In Ubuntu, one does not need to have so much to share. Little things shared in love and sincerity of heart matter most. Ubuntu teaches us to share and to give to others unconditionally. Sharing is the deepest expression and demonstration of our humanness and it awakens the human heart resulting to joy, peace and happiness.

b. Empathy: This is our capacity to enter into the emotional condition of another. His Holiness the Dalai Lama describes empathy in the Ethics for the New Millennium as our inability to see others suffer. Empathy involves listening to others with our minds, but feeling and experiencing their situations with our physical bodies; a feeling which empowers and encourages us to appreciate others' situations from a more profound and authentic perspective. As empathy becomes an integral part of our lives, we become more and more human and that enables us to help others better.

c. Respect: Respect for others is the key to good living. Africans show so much respect, especially for elders, our ancestors, traditions and teachings of the ancient. Ubuntu teaches us respect as a way of life, a way to self-awareness and lasting happiness.

d. Care and Compassion: As Ubuntu teaches that we are human only through our interaction with others; it means that without others, we are not human. Care and Compassion deals with embracing others and letting their needs, their joys and their sorrows become ours. As one great African Writer puts it, “It is putting the problems, interests and circumstances of others at a higher level of attention”. It refers to the daily and constant practice of oneness and concern for others, which is summed up in the “Golden Rule” and in Jesus’ expression to “Love thy neighbor as thyself”. Ubuntu is measured in actions and not just in good intentions. Compassion is a central part of Ubuntu. Africans are known for this act of showing compassion, of giving or sharing with others without expecting returns. Nelson Mandela, former South African President and one of Africa's greatest souls have this to say:

“A traveller through a country would stop at a village and he didn't have to ask for food or for water. Once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu but it will have various aspects. Ubuntu does not mean that people should not address themselves. The question therefore is: Are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to be able to improve?”

According to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, “You know when Ubuntu is there, and it is obvious when it is absent. It has to do with what it means to be truly human, to know that you are bound up with others in the bundle of life”. Ubuntu is the essence of being human. It speaks of the fact that my humanity is caught up and is inextricably up in yours. I am human because I belong. It speaks about wholeness, it speaks about compassion. A person with Ubuntu is welcoming, hospitable, warm and generous, willing to share. Such people are open and available to others, willing to be vulnerable, affirming of others, do not feel threatened that others are able and good, for they have a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that they belong in a greater whole. They know that they are diminished when others are humiliated, diminished when others are oppressed, diminished when others are treated as if they were less than who they are. The quality of Ubuntu gives people resilience, enabling them to survive and emerge still human despite all efforts to dehumanize them”.

The meaning of Ubuntu becomes even much clearer if it social value is considered. The key social values of Ubuntu include group solidarity, compassion, conformity, respect, humanistic orientation, human dignity and collective unity. This social value of Ubuntu is considered as the basis for morality of cooperation, compassion, communalism and concern for the interests of the collective respect for the dignity of personhood. Ubuntu is not just a social ideology but that very quality that guarantees the separation between men, women and the beast and is also the very fluctuating gradation that determines the relative quality of that essence. It is in this sense that Ubuntu is referred to as the potential of being human. Ubuntu could become a tool or instrument for transformation in a context of globalization. Perhaps the world would become more peaceful and better habitable if more emphasis was placed on practicing Ubuntu, on teaching respect for one another, decent behaviour, tolerance, love and compassion, forgiveness, etc. Given the dominant racial, cultural, religious, educational, political and socio-economic differences apparent in the modern world, the concept of Ubuntu is really and truly relevant. If we all regard others as fellow human beings, not minding our differences, there is a greater chance of achieving understanding, which is so crucial to peaceful and harmonious human existence, bringing a world of meaning, worthy of habitation.

I conclude in the words and prayer of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, may each one of us here at this international conference today always seek to become:

“A protector for those without protection,

A guide for those who have lost their way,

A ship for those with oceans to cross,

A bridge for those with rivers to cross,

A sanctuary for those in danger,

A lamp for those without light,

A place of refuge for those who lack shelter,

And a servant to all in need”.

May this become our prayer, our commitment and our life.