Ubuntu

The highlight of the day was book club. Need I say more? The book we discussed was “The Other Wes Moore” by Wes Moore. The author relates the story of his childhood and upbringing as a poor black inner city East coast kid along with that of a namesake in the same neighborhood. Wes Moore eventually turned into an upstanding citizen and a stellar person, while “the other Wes Moore” ended up in prison for life. He compares their lives and the small decisions or spur of the moment turn of events that shaped them. Fascinating. The book sparked a lot of conversation in our book club when we, a group of middle-aged women all in education, met for dinner and drinks at Typhoon. My glass of Sangria was perfect. We sat outside soaking up the lingering heat of some of the first summery days we have experienced in a while discussing the book. There was a word in the book that has stayed with me, ubuntu. I can’t believe I didn’t know what it meant, that I haven’t come across it before. Well, I have but only in computer programming contexts. What it really refers to is an ethic or humanist philosophy focusing on people's allegiances and relations with each other and it is of African origin. In the words of Desmond Tutu, “A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.”