Ubuntu: How an Ancient African Concept Can Help Humans Flourish

We were very pleased to have Humanities Washington speaker Dr. Itohan M. Idumwonyi present the African concept of Ubuntu to more than 60 AAUW members and guests via Zoom on January 18.  Dr. Idumwonyi thanked AAUW for awarding her an AAUW International Fellowship in 2014, which enabled her to further her graduates studies in the U.S. She said the award is illustrative of how AAUW members practice Ubuntu.

Dr. Idumwonyi began her presentation on “Ubuntu: How an Ancient African Concept Can Help Humans Flourish” by showing a bundle of colorful ribbons being braided together. She asked us to think about how that related to the human community. Responses included:

• One stick is stronger in a bundle
• We are less likely to break when in a bundle
• The different colors of ribbons are beautiful and might represent diverse people.

Dr. Idumwonyi told us that Ubuntu is a South African concept introduced to the rest of the world through Reverend Desmond Tutu during the time of reconciliation in South Africa at the end of Apartheid. She asked us to reflect on these statements.

She discussed our shared humanity and interconnectedness and showed a video of a European man who visited a South African school.  He had a basket of strawberries and he told the children, I am going to hide this basket, and whoever finds it gets to keep it. He expected that the children would start running all over, each alone, looking for the basket. Instead, to his great surprise, the children grabbed each other’s hands and ran off together, found the basket together and shared the strawberries equally. That astounded him.

Dr. Idumwonyi discussed the extreme individualism practiced by many people today which leads to feelings of depression and loneliness, and suicide. We were shown and practiced ways in which to make connections with others in our community.
Start with your family or small group or the person sitting next to you.

She concluded by saying a person with Ubuntu is affirming and delights that others are able to do good. However, they feel diminished when others are humiliated or treated poorly. How can one of us be happy when one of us is sad? she asked.

She earned a PhD in religious studies from Rice University and subsequently became an assistant professor of religious studies at Gonzaga University in Spokane. She also is a Smithsonian Global Religions of Africa speaker. Dr. Idumwonyi has authored several works, including Crashed Realities? Gender Dynamics in Nigerian Pentecostalism.

AAUW Seattle Discussion of Mini-grant Possibilities with Other Organizations
Following the wonderful presentation by Dr. Idumwonyi, more than 20 members stayed to review a proposal for branch mini-grants, presented by Gay Armsden.  We broke into small groups and discussed ways to become more engaged and visible in the community by providing mini-grants and volunteers to benefit other local organizations in the Seattle area. We reviewed the list of groups Gay had provided us; most of the organizations provided services to incarcerated women, victims of domestic violence and homelessness, and women with economic insecurity.  Four members volunteered to start a committee to work together with Gay to refine the proposal and develop a plan. If you are interested in participating or want to share some ideas, contact Gay at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)