Ubuntu — I Am Because We Are

Ubuntu. The Nguni Bantu concept that has no single English translation. It describes the fundamental interconnectedness of human beings — the understanding that a person is a person through other people, that your humanity is expressed through your relationship with others, that the community defines the individual rather than the reverse. Nelson Mandela embodied ubuntu when he emerged from 27 years in prison without bitterness. Desmond Tutu used it to describe the philosophy of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Ubuntu is not a policy. It is a way of seeing the world that begins with the recognition that none of us got here alone.

These signs carry the Nguni speaking stick, the community circle, the handshake across generations, and the three words that contain an entire philosophy: I am because we are.