The Beautiful Concept of Ubuntu

For decades I have greatly admired the life and work of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, but the only blog post I have made primarily about him was seven years ago on April 30, 2014 (see here). It was from him that I first learned about ubuntu, a beautiful word/concept. 

Image with this online article about ubuntu

The Meaning of Ubuntu

Two American men published a book in 2010 with a one-word title: Ubuntu! On the second page, they explain the meaning of ubuntu as the

ancient African philosophy that draws on the fact that we are one human family. We are brothers and sisters, traveling this earth together. When one man [or woman] is poorly fed, all are malnourished. When one is abused, we all feel the pain. When a child suffers, the tears wash over us all. By recognizing the humanity of one another, we recognize our unbreakable bond—our unbreakable link to the whole of humanity.

“I am because we are” is a popular brief definition of ubuntu. As Wikipedia correctly says, in a more philosophical sense ubuntu means “the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity.”

(Interestingly, Ubuntu is now the name of a PC operating system, which is said to bring the spirit of ubuntu to the world of computers. A while back I created a Google alert for ubuntu, and there were far, far more links to the Ubuntu OS than to the African philosophy of ubuntu.)

Tutu’s Emphasis on Ubuntu

Ubuntu is a basic principle that has been long practiced by Desmond Tutu, born in 1931 in the Union of South Africa. Before he was 30, he was ordained as an Anglican priest. In 1984 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

After Tutu had served 12 years as the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, in 1994 Nelson Mandela, the newly elected South African president, appointed him as the head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Here was his great opportunity to put ubuntu into practice—and he did.**

A TED talk back in 2013 pointed out that ubuntu “became known in the West largely through the writings of Desmond Tutu.” That marvelous concept has also become more widely known in the West because of his children and grandchildren.

Here is the link to a 95-second explanation of ubuntu by Mpho Tutu, the daughter of Desmond Tutu, who is also an Episcopal priest.

And Mungi Ngomane, Archbishop Tutu’s granddaughter and Mpho’s niece, is the author of a delightful 2020 book entitled Everyday Ubuntu: Living Better Together, the African Way. 

From https://mungingomane.co/

The Healing Power of Ubuntu

It is significant that President Mandela sought to create a peaceful society in South Africa by appointing a Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

There could have been great bloodshed and ongoing animosities. But, based on the concept of ubuntu, he (and Archbishop Tutu) emphasized both truth and reconciliation. Reconciliation between the minority Whites and the majority who were Black, could not be achieved without attention to truth.

In his new (2021) book Desmond Tutu: A Spiritual Biography of South Africa's Confessor, Michael J. Battle refers to “Tutu’s beautiful concept of ubuntu theology” (p. 9).

The first book by Battle, an Episcopal theologian born in 1963, is titled Reconciliation: The Ubuntu Theology of Desmond Tutu (1997, 2009). In the racially and politically divided nation of South Africa, Tutu strove valiantly for reconciliation. But he also emphasized the importance of truth.

“Truth-telling is the path to healing, Tutu tells U.S. audience” is the title of an online article posted in April 2002. That is even more important to recognize now in this racially and politically divided nation of ours.

There cannot be political reconciliation as long as the Big Lie about the 2020 election continues to be spouted and supported.

There cannot be racial reconciliation as long as the Whites in the U.S. cannot understand and affirm that Black Lives Matter.

Implementing the beautiful concept of ubuntu could help mightily in creating a just and peaceful society.

On the back cover of Mungi Ngoname’s book, which I highly recommend, are these memorable words:

By embracing ubuntu, we live in hope of overcoming divisions and becoming stronger together in a world where the wise build bridges.

_____

** Click here to see/read “Ubuntu—The African Concept The World Really Needs Right Now,” a 7/7/20 article about ubuntu as practiced by both Mandela and Tutu.

The Forgiveness Challenge

As I wrote about in my previous blog article, Nelson Mandela was elected president of South Africa on April 27, 1994. He was the first black president in that country that had long been dominated by the white minority.

At the time of Mandela’s election, there was still considerable anger and resentment among the blacks because of the decades of abuse and mistreatment under the cruel system known as apartheid.

There was also considerable fear and anxiety among the whites, who were no longer in control of political power. They had every reason to fear violent reaction by those who for so long had been victims of injustice. And there was unrest that did result in some violence.

However, President Mandela took a conciliatory attitude and led in the formation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in 1995. Mandela chose Desmond Tutu to be the head of the TRC, and he was an excellent choice.

Tutu (b. 1931) was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1960. He served three years as the Bishop of Lesotho in the late 1970s and then as Bishop of Johannesburg in 1985-86. Tutu was then installed as the Archbishop of Cape Town (one of the three capitals of South Africa) in 1986, a post he held until 1996, the year he turned 65.

Tutu’s work for peace, justice, and reconciliation began long before 1995. In fact, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, while Mandela was still in prison and the majority population of South Africa was still under oppressive white rule.

But in his tireless opposition to apartheid, Tutu advocated only nonviolent means for change.

Tutu’s new book “The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World” was published just last month. It was co-authored with his daughter Mpho. She is also an Anglican priest who now lives in Virginia.

Having just read their splendid book, I highly recommend it—especially if you have any lingering feelings of anger or resentment toward people who have hurt you in the past.

The Tutus’ “fourfold path” to forgiveness includes (1) telling the story, (2) naming the hurt, (3) granting forgiveness, and (4) renewing or releasing the relationship.

I am not sure what all it is going to involve, but beginning on May 4, the Tutus are leading the “Tutu Global Forgiveness Challenge” on the Internet. I have signed up—along with people from more than 120 other countries—to receive the daily emails and other information about forgiveness.

If you are interested, the address for learning more about the Forgiveness Challenge, as well as for signing up, is https://ForgivenessChallenge.com. And while you will probably be encouraged to buy their book, that is not required and signing up for the online activity is free of charge.

In promoting the challenge, their website declares, “The Forgiveness Challenge will help you discover how the act of forgiving can bring more love and peace to your life. When enough of us forgive–we can change the world!”

I think that is quite true. That is the reason I am writing about this—and encouraging you to respond to the forgiveness challenge.

Although Desmond and Mpho Tutu are Anglican priests, their book is not explicitly religious. It is based on a deep understanding of human psychology and verified by the experiences they have had, especially his experience with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

And it is by no means just about South Africa. It is for all who need to forgive—and to be forgiven by others.

The Futility of Retaliation

Quite a celebration has been planned for next weekend in my hometown, Grant City, Missouri, in commemoration of its founding 150 years ago, in February 1863.

The town was named after Ulysses S. Grant, a Union solider in the Civil War who was stationed in Missouri when President Lincoln appointed him to be a brigadier general in August 1861. Grant then fought a series of successful battles and was promoted to major general in 1862.

But while people in Grant City will be celebrating its sesquicentennial, people in other parts of Missouri are remembering the terrible devastation of their houses and other property 150 years ago this month—just as the people of Lawrence, Kansas, recently remembered the destruction of their town on August 21, 1863, as I wrote about in my previous posting.

As a direct result of the Lawrence Massacre, and in an effort to defuse the “border war,” General Thomas Ewing issued Order No. 11 on August 25. That order resulted in the burning of most of the rural houses and crops of the Missourians who lived in Cass and Benton counties and parts of Jackson and Vernon counties. That was the area adjacent to the Missouri-Kansas border from the southwestern part of Kansas City to north of Nevada.

At that time, George Caleb Bingham was the Missouri state treasurer, and he knew and personally disliked Gen. Ewing. Bingham said to Ewing: “If you execute this order, I shall make you infamous with pen and brush.”

Even though Bingham also served as a Union soldier, he was appalled by the consequences of Order No. 11, which Ewing did execute. That resulted in much of those four counties being destroyed by fire, and the area came to be known as the “Burnt District.” The population of Cass County, for example, was reduced from 10,000 to 600. And in 1868 Bingham did paint a picture depicting the sad consequences of Order No. 11, which became the title of the painting.

On August 17, June and I went down to the River Market area of Kansas City and saw the reenactment of the issuance of Order No. 11. That took place across the street from Pacific House, the very building that was the headquarters of Ewing after he was promoted to brigadier general in March 1863 and given command of the District of the Border, which was comprised of Kansas and western Missouri. A small print of Bingham’s famous painting hangs on the wall in Pacific House now.

Order No. 11 was issued mainly in retaliation for Quantrill’s raid on Lawrence, which was largely in retaliation for James Lane’s raid on Osceola, Mo., in 1861. And so it went, violence begetting violence. This evokes the memory of Martin Luther King’s oft-quoted statement, “The old law of an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind.”

People of power never seem to learn, though. The terrorist attack of 9/11/01 spawned retaliation on Afghanistan, and the ongoing war on terrorism now conducted increasingly with drones and causing the death of non-terrorists, women and children as “collateral damage” continues to spawn anger toward the U.S.

Thankfully, the March on Washington led by King 50 years ago next Wednesday (Aug. 28, 1963) recognized that reconciliation is better than retaliation. I wish the “bushwhackers” and “jayhawkers” had recognized that in the 1850’s and ’60s.

And I wish the President and the U.S. government had recognized that in 2001, and would even now recognize the futility of retaliation and the urgent need to work more diligently for reconciliation.