Ubuntu, African Ancestrality and Its Resignifications in the African Diaspora

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this text, I reflect on the African cosmovivencias of Ubuntu and the place of the ancestors within those cosmovivencias. I also approach the resignifications that Ubuntu and ancestrality have had in the African Diaspora. I show how ancestrality is present both in Ubuntu and in the cultural, religious, and traditional manifestations, which express the resignifications of the African cosmovivencias of Ubuntu in Latin America. To support my argument, I bring examples of cases that I consider to be experiences of these cosmovivencias. For Africa, I mention Ubuntu (South Africa) and the instances of the figure of “Kimbilikiti,” a common spirit of the Lega ethnic group (eastern DRC); the ancestral ritual for good fishing, practiced jointly in Uvira (also in east DRC); and the figure of “Abashingantahe” (wise men, judges), in Burundi. For Latin America, I bring up the experiences understood as “suficiencias íntimas” and “vivir sabroso” in Colombia and the African rooted religions and the quilombola communities. All these cases have the African ancestry in common.