The Daily UbuntuWho are they?
Rather than a single people, a large family of more than 500 languages, spoken by some 240 million people, from Cameroon to South Africa. Kiswahili, isiZulu and Kinyarwanda are among them.
Philosophy
What is Ubuntu?
“I am because we are.”
In 30 seconds
I become a person through others.
Ubuntu is an African idea: my dignity is bound up with yours. In the face of racism, it reminds us that hurting someone hurts the whole “us.” And it is lived through simple gestures.
Where the word comes from
The Nguni proverb Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu means “a person is a person through other people.” In 1969, the Kenyan philosopher John S. Mbiti summed it up this way: “I am, because we are.”
It is not just another theory: it is a way of living, understood through greeting, welcoming, and settling a conflict together.
The Bantu peoples
More than 500 languages, one shared idea of the person.
What does the word mean?
In isiZulu, umuntu means “a person” and abantu means “people.” With the prefix ubu-, you get ubuntu: humanity, the way of being a person.
Where do they come from?
Starting from the border between Nigeria and Cameroon some 4,400 years ago, these languages crossed the forests of Central Africa, then reached the east and south of the continent.
Four founding ideas
What holds it all together.
Dignity
Every person counts, unconditionally. Their worth is not earned: it is recognized.
Sharing
What is shared gains meaning. Wealth kept for oneself impoverishes the “us.”
Interdependence
Each person's success depends on that of others. No one stands up alone.
Humanity
Recognizing the humanity of others makes ours grow. Wounding it diminishes us too.
In history
“My humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in yours.”
In South Africa, Ubuntu inspired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission chaired by Tutu from 1996, and Nelson Mandela's choice to build peace rather than seek revenge.
Every day
Three gestures to start today.
- Listen to the endBefore answering “that's not racism,” let the other person finish their story.
- Name without accusingTalk about the effects of an action or a rule, not about the person's worth.
- Go to the sourceRead a public report rather than a comment. The links are on every page.
Sources for this page
- J. S. Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy, Heinemann, 1969 (record). www.cambridge.org
- Upper Room, on Desmond Tutu and Ubuntu (No Future Without Forgiveness, 1999). www.upperroom.org
- Britannica, Truth and Reconciliation Commission, South Africa. www.britannica.com
- Britannica, “Bantu languages.” www.britannica.com
- E. Koile et al., PNAS, 2022 (number of languages and speakers, route of the expansion). pure.mpg.de
- E. Patin et al., Science, 2017 (dispersal of Bantu-speaking populations). pure.psu.edu
- South African History Online, “Defining the term Bantu” (meaning of the word). sahistory.org.za