School Theme - UBUNTU!

Our School Theme for 2021-2022 school year is UBUNTU!  It's pronounced OO-BOON-TOO.

According to Nelson Mandela, there are various aspects of Ubuntu so our goal is to provide you with examples and quotes below indicating how others describe and use Ubuntu to work, live, and lead with the hope that you'll understand it better and use it with your family and in your own lives!  Students are learning about it,  and we are encouraging them to use it to work, live, and lead with Ubuntu everywhere, but especially here at school.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu introduced Ubuntu to the world.  Ubuntu preaches tolerance. It does not matter what skin color, hair color, or country we each come from. It is important to realize we all share a common bond because we are all human.  Tutu stated, "Africa is the birthplace of Ubuntu.  Humanities oneness with our creator and nature.  I dream of a new world and a new humanity.  A humanity that expresses Ubuntu.  I am because we are.  We are all one.  I encourage you to remember that magic of who you are.  Live to your highest potential and see the potential in others.  To celebrate the wonder of our diversity and to go and be who you are.  This is our common legacy."

Ubuntu--the ancient African philosophy that we are one human family.  We are brothers and sisters, traveling this earth together.  We recognize our unbreakable bond and link to the whole of humanity by recognizing the humanity of one another.  This was taken from a book, Ubuntu! by Stephen C. Lundin and Bob Nelson.

Nelson Mandela was the President of South Africa from 1994 - 1999.  He's known as the Father of South Africa and he was an icon of democracy, social justice, and received more than 250 honors including the Nobel Peace Prize. He is the personification of Ubuntu.  Nelson Mandela was asked, What do you understand Ubuntu to be?  Nelson Mandela replied, “A traveler through a country would stop at a village and he didn't have to ask for food or for water. Once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu but it will have various aspects."  He also stated, "Ubuntu does not mean that people should not enlist themselves.  The question; therefore is, are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to improve.  These are the important things in life, and if one can do that, then you've done something very important that will be appreciated."

According to Nelson Mandela, "You have a limited time to stay on earth.  You must try and use that period for the purpose of transforming your country into what you desire it to be.  And, therefore, you have to reject all negative visions in your own soul, in your blood system, and focus your attention on the positive things."

Oprah asked Nelson Mandela, "How do we begin those of us who aren't leading countries, but are just leading our own lives, leading our families, come to a sense of truth and reconciliation with ourselves to be a peacemaker?  How do you do that?"  Nelson Mandela responded, "The first thing is to be honest with yourself.  You can never have an impact on society if you have not changed yourself, and one of the most important weapons in changing yourself is to recognize that peace--I mean people everywhere in the world want peace, but humility is one of the most important qualities which you must have, because if you are humble, if you make people realize that you are no threat to them, then people will embrace you."

Obama gave a speech about Nelson Mandela and he stated: "Mandela understood the ties that bind the human spirit.  A word that captures Mandela's greatest gifts.  His recognition that we are all bound together in ways that are invisible to the eye.  That there's a oneness to humanity.  That we achieve ourselves by sharing ourselves with others and caring for those around us."

According to Boyd Varty, "In a more collective society, we realize from the inside that our own well being is deeply tied to well being of others.  Danger is shared.  Pain is shared.  Joy is shared.  Achievement in shared.  Houses are shared.  Food is shared.  Ubuntu asks us to open our hearts and to share."

Here Doc Rivers describes how Ubuntu was used for his 2008 Boston Celtics team.  He stated, "On our team we have a phrase called Ubuntu, a person is a person through other people.  I can't be all I can be, unless you are all you can be. I can never be threatened by you because you're good, because the better you are, the better I am.  That belief system is through our entire team.  I may not be a leader or a player may not be a leader, but he understands the only way that he can achieve what he wants to achieve is that he has to make his teammates better, his players better, my coaches better, and that is the Ubuntu philosophy.  That is a form of leadership.  If Kevin Garnett is out on the floor helping Rajon Rondo with his shooting, then Kevin Garnett is being Ubuntu and that's what we say in our culture."  The team used the word Ubuntu as their pregame chant, and had the word Ubuntu etched into their championship rings.  Doc Rivers credited his discovery of the word Ubuntu to Kita "Thierry" Matungulu, founder of Hoops 4 Hope, a South African organization that introduces kids to sports and teaches life skills.  She suggested that he research it and stated, "It's not a word, Doc. It's a way of life."  It turned out to be very instrumental--the magic that he needed--for the 2008 Boston Celtics team to win an NBA title.

What is Ubuntu?  What does it mean?  I am because of you.  I am because we are.  We are all one.  People are not people without other people.  We get to experience the deepest parts of our own humanity through our interactions with others.  Ubuntu is at play all around us by children interacting with other children, teachers, and staff, which results in children lifting each other up and realizing that what they do matters, and teachers interacting with other teachers, children, and staff where veteran teachers are mentoring younger teachers, teachers are helping children achieve high academic achievement, and staff are helping our school operate as one cohesive unit whose goal is to enable our whole school community improve.

Ubuntu: The One Word to Change How You Work, Live and Lead | Shola Richards

UBUNTU! - Motivational Speech by Howard Schultz (Starbucks)