According to the African philosophy, Ubuntu: it is only through others that our humanity is reflected back on ourselves." This means that our humanism is not an idea that we can discover alone. We can only begin to appreciate who we are, why we live, and the spirit of human through our connection and interaction with others
Indifference shattered by the profound sadness that I felt.
Humanism ought to be alive. Humanism ought to be shared freely.
Or as the Zulus would say, "Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabantu", which means that a person is a person through other persons. We affirm our humanity when we acknowledge that of others.
The South African Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu describes Ubuntu as:
"It is the essence of being human. It speaks of the fact that my humanity is caught up and is inextricably bound 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." Referenced from Buzzle.com
And you can watch this video "Chris Abani Muses on Humanity"
