Folio Special Issue: “Ubuntu”

Ubuntu

noun

1. An Nguni Bantu term meaning “humanity,” sometimes translated as “I am because you are.”

2. A concept in which your sense of self is shaped by your relationships with other people

“Ubuntu: I am because you are.”

A special edition of Folio celebrating Black writers and artists @ SLCC was released February 14, 2023 at the African American Read-inin conjunction with Black History Month.

UBUNTU! What did he just say?! UBUNTU…U-B-U-N-T-U. This is an African concept that gets at the profound sense that we are human only through the humanity of others. As Nelson Mandela stated, “If we are to accomplish anything in this world, it will in equal measure be due to the work and achievements of others.” My dear sisters and brothers, we have work to do. We can’t simply sit back and watch all that is going on in the world like some riveting drama-filled movie.

—Dr. Roderic R. Land,
Dean of School of Humanities & Social Sciences