Can Global Africans truly achieve unity when we can't even agree on this word?
I first heard of the word, “Umbutu”, a few months ago in relation to unity among all Africans globally in the diaspora. To be honest, I was excited about the concept of “I am because we are”, “we are interconnected”, “we are one”, etc., and I wanted to create a t-shirt to share my excitement. However, when I went to research this concept in depth to create a thoughtful and knowledgeable description for the product, I quickly found out that there was a problem…
I noticed that a Google search for the word led me to “Ubuntu” and implied that I made a mistake in my spelling. I knew I wasn’t looking for anything that remotely had to do with any software, so I clicked on the smaller writing that I hoped would lead me the information I was looking for.
When I clicked the smaller link that led to the word as I was hearing it being pronounced, it opened up a wealth of information that made much more sense!
I found that the word being pronounced as “UMBUTU” was being spelled “UBUNTU” incorrectly in many videos and throughout video chats and comments, so I made it my mission to try to correct this “error”, which I seem to be the only one to perceive!
I knew I was on the right track when I came to the website, Body Sacred. This was exactly the phrase I heard, “I am because we are”, that got my attention, so I knew this was helping me make progress in getting down to the truth.
However, one website wasn’t enough for me. I needed more validation, so I perused this article from Cornell Research. This concept is too important for there to be any confusion about it. I mean, when and how did this word get mixed up? Why?
N’Dri T. Assié-Lumumba
Africana Studies & Research Center, College of Arts and Sciences
So, at this point, I wondered if two separate groups of individuals could’ve gotten the spelling of “UMBUTU” wrong. I did a bit more digging and found this article from Leana May from 2008.
When I researched the other links within the search for “UMBUTU”, everything else I saw was related in some way to Africa.
I’m personally satisfied that the “UMBUTU” t-shirt I designed, which is available on this website, is correct, and I’m sticking to my guns! However, how can we feel completely confident in celebrating the concept of “UMBUTU” when there is confusion over the word itself? And as we know, there is power in words, and it’s called “spelling” for a reason!
I wonder if some of our leading African social media and alternative news platforms would be interested to speak with N’Dri T. Assié-Lumumba or someone else affiliated with these articles to help us lock down clarification for this very much needed concept?
And with that being said, I say “UMBUTU” to the world-wide African Family!