What is Ubuntu?

Ubuntu is an ancient African word meaning ‘humanity to others’.

It also means ‘I am what I am because of who we all are’.

Humanity has from time immemorial faced challenges, and it has always been about the environment, the jungle , the lack of food, meeting strangers and the struggle for dominance, but among all these challenges many of the them where natural but there is an aspect of these challenges where were all man made. They came to being because of the curiosity of humans about some issues that so relevant and ones that are perceived relevant to them. The questions start coming from the mind of the early humans how did mankind and all other creatures came to being,  theories kept coming from Charles Darwin evolution theory which were upheld by many and disapproved by many as well.

There came other theories the theory of spiritualism which believed in the immense power from above, a unique force that controls every bit of the activities of the world and these came to the theory of the Supreme Being. These theory has been upheld by mankind for thousands of years if not millions. And Religion came to being our ancestors with this mental picture lived in line with what they believed as the medium to connect to the Supreme Being. In many cultures they believed that this external controller of the universe is in charge of human activities with no regards to their own conscience and sense of judgement, while in some other religion they believe in you get what you want being the approval of the supreme being which now by modern science and deliberation can be faulted with the proven theories of commerce, customer driven society and the law of garbage in garbage out.

There is one other theory which was invented by humanity which has in one way or the other united mankind together, This is politics, Aristotle said man is a political animal, looking at all events of history of mankind we are animals driven by the key fundamental of politics which is interest, we choose what ideology to believe because we feel it paves way to what our interest portrays. For centuries these has given room for wars and loss of lives in millions due to the battle for dominance, we all need to ask do humans is it right for humans to dominate the other without their consents, without realizing their age long history and the true nature of humans the resistance which is in born in humans and the tool at which makes politics to excel is the other great trend of mankind the power of adaptation, we are quick to adapt to the next situation around us and these made mankind to go through numerous ideologies of politics, be it Draconian, Machiavellian, absolute monarchy and all sorts of dangerous principles of dominance.

These two theories have one thing in common and that is they have shaped mankind and have refined them, We have graduated from the era of savagery and moved now to an era of minimum dominance, freedom is coming back to our world, we now justify for ourselves what to believe, which side of the politics to uphold to, women have been given change to contribute to their quota in the events of history, government and religion. We are becoming more connected like never before we have now the tool of technology, the social media and the other forms of media to prove our strength and our conviction and we have now been driven not by the power of instilled fear but the power of our conscience. We have made the world a better place. Democracy has given room to more participation of the citizenry unlike the loyalty of subjects which was the earliest concern of people in power in centuries past.

In our modern existence as humans having gone through these stages of thought and have adopted the two theories, In our world today there few systems of government but too many religions these have brokered an unusual conflict of interest, looking back the ancient books which are inherited by us now in these religious practices we tend to be clouded still in the era of crude and inhuman practices in the name of all these beliefs and our politics has been upgraded above our religion so now it is not a problem to humanity. Those who seek relevance in this two fields use one to gain the other. People who tend to gain relevance in the world of politics tend to shy away from letting the people know that humanity has advanced to a more balanced and tolerant being. Looking at the major cities of the world they are highly multi-cultural and Religion play little role in the way decisions are made in these places and these have driven innovation, success, equality and high level of balance among the residence of these cities. These is the level humanity has advanced to, this development has fostered a robust prove that all men are created equal and all humans pursue liberty and fulfillment.

We have some religious violence, jihadist, genocides like in Rwanda and the Rohingra people of Burma all are sponsored by this two forces the struggle for power and radicalization of the weak minded people like in the case of a hotel attendant who was lured to commit suicide attack on the same people she was once cared for, who she spoke to every morning and cared for, These is now a global threat looking at the number of children who have no access to education, who aspired for greatness but lack the basic tools to get their dream fulfilled, And also a manipulative political class who  seeks power at all means. This has contributed to the rise in terror threats around the world, these threats  have taken the key headlines and attentions of the world more than the advancement of science for all, Billions are being spent for security while millions of people go to bed hungry, Hour priorities has changed and we know have a terrible situation where we forgo the basic needs of man over issues of importance as well also these needs are the basic needs, the poor are coerced, the illiterate lured, the downtrodden made to harbor hate and spread hate messages which all create strife in the world.

We all have to come together as one to heal the world, we all have to strive for equity for everyone for injustice spreads as wild fire .We need to stand in solidarity with the children of this world from the depth of love and affection when spread it will make the recruitment of child soldiers hard, prostitution and human trafficking reduced, those loopholes which they capitalize on to incite other people to cause mayhem. When we do all these this theories will be overshadowed by the power of love. Let us spread the affection for one another education, freedom, We can utilize the tools we have today which many generations never had, We are the most advanced generation in the history of mankind. When we believe humanity will not be without wars and conflicts we condemn humanity to beings who have violence speaking for than peace. We all have to contribute to this global call of oneness because there is no race in this world who have never been persecuted in one time in history or the other because as those moment humans at that time are living by conquest but we are now living by conscience.

It is the best we can do for our unborn generations so that these trend with the access to information do not escalate because technology is bringing the world together. When we share the concepts of Ubuntu we make the world a better place and we sow the seed of peace for our unborn generations.

Learn More:
Ubuntu (Wikipedia)
“I am, because of you” (TED.COM)
Ubuntu (philosophy)
Ubuntu: Applying African Philosophy in Building Community