The Daily UbuntuUbuntu
“I am because we are.” A philosophy of relationship, reminding us that each person's dignity depends on everyone's.
DiscoverThe voice
“The faces of coming generations are looking up at us from beneath the earth.”
Journal of reflections No. 01 · Montreal
I am because we are.
Stories and verified facts to understand systemic racism and build a fairer “us.”
DignitySharingInterdependenceHumanity
Welcome
A place to understand without judging, and to act without waiting.
The Daily Ubuntu starts from a very old and very simple African idea: we become persons through other people. With it, we take an honest look at systemic racism, here, in Quebec and in Canada. Not to accuse. To repair what connects us.
No jargon here. Short stories, verified facts and a question to take with you.
Echoes from here · The Seven Generations
Thinking of those not yet born.
Before deciding, ask: what will this leave to our great-great-grandchildren? That is the heart of a principle handed down by the Haudenosaunee, our neighbours. And it resonates strongly with Ubuntu.
- Where it comes from
- It is a Haudenosaunee principle, from the Six Nations Confederacy. It is rooted in the Great Law of Peace, which asks chiefs to always keep the coming generations in view, “even those whose faces are yet beneath the surface of the ground.” The words “seventh generation” come from oral teaching, passed down from generation to generation.
- Close to home
- Kahnawà:ke, Kanehsatà:ke and Akwesasne are Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) communities that belong to this Confederacy. Kahnawà:ke describes the Great Law and the Seventh Generation as the foundation of its beliefs.
- The echo with Ubuntu
- For the philosopher Mogobe Ramose, the Ubuntu community brings together the ancestors, the living and those yet to be born. Two distinct traditions, born on two continents, answer each other on one point: we are responsible for those who will come after us. An echo, not a common origin.
The question
What decision made today would you like your great-great-grandchildren to thank you for?
Sources
- Haudenosaunee Confederacy, “Values” (the value of the Seventh Generation). haudenosauneeconfederacy.com
- Great Law of Peace, English text by A. C. Parker (1916), article 28. web.pdx.edu
- Kahnawà:ke, “About” (the Great Law and the Seventh Generation). kahnawake.com
- Government of Quebec, profile of the Mohawk Nation (Kahnawake, Akwesasne, Kanesatake). quebec.ca
- Oren Lyons, address to the United Nations General Assembly, December 10, 1992. s2.smu.edu
- B. Maris, “Philosophical racism and ubuntu,” South African Journal of Philosophy, 2020 (Ramose: ancestors, the living and the unborn). pure.uva.nl
A few landmarks, in Quebec
The facts are not here to overwhelm. They show us where to act.
142calls to action from the Viens Commission on public services and First Nations and Inuit (2019)
4 to 5×more likely to be stopped by Montreal police for Black and Indigenous people (2019 report)
22%employment income gap for visible minorities in Quebec in 2019, down from 28% in 2015
The question behind every entry
What does our “us” still leave outside, and what does it lose by staying incomplete?