What will it take to “Celebrate Africa's Humanity”?

Decried one journalist, under the heading ‘Ke Nako? Or k-nackered?': “Cry Ke Nako! Let's rejoice in the humanity of a continent where millions are starving and without shelter, where despots are still able to escape the wrath of the just and...”

What exactly is humanity?

This begs the questions, what exactly is humanity and how shall Africa deliver this promise to the world?

Possibly the most comprehensive definition of humanity has been expressed as “the quality of being humane; the kind feelings, dispositions, and sympathies of man; especially, a disposition to relieve persons or animals in distress, and to treat all creatures with kindness and tenderness.”

In other words, it is the interactions between human beings, and in particular the compassion we extend to each other, that define what the influential philosopher Hannah Arendt called ‘the Human Condition'.

Madiba's definition of humanity

When the new South Africa was born on 27 April 1994, the world was soon to learn Africa's very own version of humanity, termed ubuntu and many a time pronounced by our president Nelson Mandela, who once defined ubuntu as follows:

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, entertain 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?

Central to Obama's campaign

Throughout his election campaign, US President Barack Obama kept calling on the concept of humanity as a key driver for bringing change to America.

It was at the end of his keynote speech at the Democractic National Convention in Boston in July 2004 that Obama shared his definition of humanity:

It is that fundamental belief, it is that fundamental belief, I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper that makes this country work. It's what allows us to pursue our individual dreams and yet still come together as one American family. E pluribus unum. Out of many, one.

The human condition in branding

Recently, the world of branding has discovered the potent dimension of causal branding, in other words, the need for identifying and communicating the soul of the brand, its raison de'etre (reason to exist) and the meaning it bestows to all who engage with it.

For a long time, great brands have imbued their clients with the sense of making a difference in this world, one of the best examples being Richard Branson's quest to promote entrepreneurship in Africa.

Reversing Africa's continental branding effect

At the preliminary FIFA draw in Durban, former President Thabo Mbeki called upon the continental branding benefits of hosting the world's biggest sporting event:

We want, on behalf of our continent, to stage an event that will send ripples of confidence from the Cape to Cairo - an event that will create social and economic opportunities throughout Africa. We want to ensure that one day, historians will reflect upon the 2010 FIFA World Cup as a moment when Africa stood tall and resolutely turned the tide on centuries of poverty and conflict. We want to show that Africa's time has come.

Humanity on display during Confed Cup

In response to the above quoted article deriding the 2010 brand promise as ‘k-nackered', one reader shared his experience the day following Bafana Bafana's Confed Cup victory over New Zealand:

This morning as I drove my cab in Fourways the mini bus driver behind me was dancing Zuma's Umshini Wami, even though he was seated. There was no denying that the way he held his two hands close together, rhythmically lifting them [and] dropping his head in the familiar Zuma Zulu dance style, he was echoing the crowds singing at Royal Bafokeng last night when they celebrated Bernard Parker's two goals.

Waiting at the traffic light this driver could scarcely contain his joy, he wasn't thinking of snobs in fancy cars cursing him for ignoring traffic rules, or some of his beloved relatives dying of the sickness, or whether he'll make his quota today [and] pay his bills with the R600 he gets at the end of the week. He was thinking of only one thing, the ball in the back of the net! He was singing of empowerment [and] that is what the world cup means to millions of Africans. Empowerment! Empowerment that leads to equality [and] equality that leads to humanity. Let's rise up Africa, [let's] utter the words that celebrate our humanity, [let's] utter it as a prophesy of hope. Ke Nako!

The Ghanaian example

Reflecting on the progress of the Ghanaian democracy over the past decades, the American autobiographer and poet Maya Angelou expanded on the concept of humanity:

While the rest of the world has been improving technology, Ghana has been improving the quality of man's humanity to man.