Editing Ubuntu philosophy (section)

===South Africa===
[[File:St John's church tutu (cropped).jpg|thumb|Archbishop [[Desmond Tutu]] is often associated with "[[ubuntu theology]]"]]

Ubuntu: "I am what I am because of who we all are." (From a definition offered by Liberian peace activist [[Leymah Gbowee]].)

[[Archbishop]] [[Desmond Tutu]] offered a definition in a 1999 book:<ref>{{cite book | last = Tutu | first = Desmond | author-link = Desmond Tutu | title = No Future Without Forgiveness | publisher = Image | year = 1999 | isbn = 0-385-49690-7 }}</ref>
{{Blockquote|A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, based from 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.}}

Tutu further explained Ubuntu in 2008:.<ref>{{cite web
| date = January 24, 2012
| publisher = Ubuntu Women Institute USA
| title = Brief Meaning of African Word 'UBUNTU'
| quote = Archbishop Desmond Tutu further explained
| url = http://uwi-usa.blogspot.be/2012/01/ubuntu-brief-meaning-of-african-word.html}}</ref>
{{Blockquote|
One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu - the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can't exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can't be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality - Ubuntu - you are known for your generosity.

We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.{{Unreliable source?|date=December 2021|reason=The source is quoting Tutu from an unnamed 2008 work but does not give original info|certain=|name=}}}}

[[Nelson Mandela]] explained Ubuntu as follows:<ref>[[:File:Experience ubuntu.ogg]] Experience Ubuntu Interview.</ref>
{{Blockquote|A traveller 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 and attend him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu, but it will have various aspects. Ubuntu does not mean that people should not address themselves. The question therefore is: Are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to be able to improve?}}

[[Tim Jackson (economist)|Tim Jackson]] refers to Ubuntu as a philosophy that supports the changes he says are necessary to create a future that is economically and environmentally sustainable.<ref name="Ted Talk">{{cite web | url=http://www.ted.com/talks/tim_jackson_s_economic_reality_check.html | title=Tim Jackson's Economic Reality Check | access-date=2010-12-09 | author=Jackson, Tim | date=July 2010 | work=Speech | publisher=TED}}</ref> Judge Colin Lamont expanded on the definition during his ruling on the [[hate speech]] trial of [[Julius Malema]].<ref name="Lamont">{{Cite court
  |litigants=Afri-Forum and Another vs. Malema and others
  |vol=
  |reporter=
  |opinion=23
  |pinpoint=
  |court=The Equality Court, Johannesburg
  |date=2011
  |url=http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAEQC/2011/2.pdf }}</ref>

At Nelson Mandela's memorial, United States President [[Barack Obama]] spoke about Ubuntu, saying,

{{Blockquote|
There is a word in South Africa – Ubuntu – a word that captures Mandela's greatest gift:  his recognition that we are all bound together in ways that are invisible to the eye; that there is a oneness to humanity; that we achieve ourselves by sharing ourselves with others, and caring for those around us.

We can never know how much of this sense was innate in him, or how much was shaped in a dark and solitary cell.  But we remember the gestures, large and small – introducing his jailers as honored guests at his inauguration; taking a pitch in a Springbok uniform; turning his family’s heartbreak into a call to confront HIV/AIDS – that revealed the depth of his empathy and his understanding.  He not only embodied Ubuntu, he taught millions to find that truth within themselves.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-nelson-mandela-memorial-service-speech-full-text-2013-12|title=Obama's Tribute To Nelson Mandela At Memorial Service - Business Insider|date=10 December 2013|work=Business Insider}}</ref>}}