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Although, I suppose you might also argue that such lessons become obvious to me because I am open to them, or even that I am looking for them, but that's a whole different conversation.
Anyway, I was reading a novel - the seventeenth in a cozy mystery series that I have enjoyed over the years - when I stumbled across this line:
Ubuntu is a deep-seated belief that humanity is something we owe to one another. How I act toward you is what defines me. Not what I have or what I wear - but how I treat you, how I interact with you.
My "inclusion radar" immediately on high, I decided I need to know a little more about this South African concept.
The philosophy of Ubuntu (oo-boon-too) derives from a Nguni word, ubuntu meaning “the quality of being human.” Ubuntu manifests itself through a variety of human acts; generosity of spirit, our care for others, a willingness to go out of our way for the sake of another. The African proverb “Ubuntu ngumtu ngabanye abantu” (“A person is a person through other people”) reveals that we are first and foremost social beings. Ubuntu is, at the same time, a deeply personal philosophy that calls on us to mirror our humanity for each other. Ubuntu can be seen and felt in the spirit of willing participation, unquestioning cooperation, warmth, openness, and personal dignity.
“Africans have a thing called ubuntu. It is about the essence of being human, it is part of the gift that Africa will give the world. It embraces hospitality, caring about others, being willing to go the extra mile for the sake of another. We believe that a person is a person through other persons, that my humanity is caught up, bound up, inextricably, with yours. When I dehumanize you, I inexorably dehumanize myself. The solitary human being is a contradiction in terms. Therefore you seek to work for the common good because your humanity comes into its own in community, in belonging.” ~Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Our humanity comes into its own in community and belonging.
And when I dehumanize you, I inexorably dehumanize myself.
If ever there was a rallying cry for disability inclusion, here it is.
“In Africa there is a concept known as 'ubuntu' - the profound sense that
we are human only through the humanity of others; that if we are to
accomplish anything in this world it will in equal measure be due to the
work and achievement of others.” ~Nelson MandelaFar too often we think of ourselves just as individuals, separated from one another; yet what we do affects others, affects the world. We need to consistently think about the choices we make and the impact they may have on others.
And just in case you want to read the novel I was reading 😉
Don't miss a post from Removing the Stumbling Block:
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