Ubuntu as a spirituality of liberation for black theology of liberation

Sandiswa L Kobe

doi:10.4102/hts.v77i3.6176

Abstract

This article aims to respond to Vuyani Vellem’s challenge to black theology of liberation (BTL) to ‘think beyond rethinking and repeating its tried and tested ways of responding to black pain caused by racism and colonialism’. Vellem argued that ‘BTL needs to unthink the west by focusing on and retaining African spirituality as a cognitive spirituality’ for the liberation of black people in South Africa. This article argues that Ubuntu is the spirituality of liberation that BTL needs to advance as one of its interlocutors. This research work will consult the literature emerging from African philosophy, ethics, spirituality and BTL arguing that Ubuntu is an indigenous philosophy, spirituality that continues to exist in the languages and culture of the Abantu (Bantu) speaking people. This article is dedicated to the memory of Vellem as a BTL scholar and a faithful believer of the liberative paradigms of BTL.Contribution: The scholarly contribution of this article is its focus on the systematic and practical reflection, within a paradigm in which the intersection of religious studies, social sciences and humanities generate an interdisciplinary contested discourse.

Highlights

This article seeks to celebrate the academic contributions made by professor Vuyani Vellem, his work in black theology of liberation (BTL) in South Africa and Africa
Vellem once pointed out to us that Voortrekker Monument and Freedom Park symbolises two cultures in conflict with one another in the democratic dispensation of South Africa. He maintained that the precarious rupture of the liberation movements and the formation of new political movements such as Congress of the People (COPE) signalled ambiguity that has prevailed since the dawn of democracy (Vellem 2012)
Considering the above-mentioned debate perhaps Vellem is right to argue that African religiosity is expressed in African indigenous churches (AICs) and they are a site of the spirituality of liberation, which includes Ubuntu ethics/philosophy

Summary

Introduction

This article seeks to celebrate the academic contributions made by professor Vuyani Vellem, his work in black theology of liberation (BTL) in South Africa and Africa. Responding to Fallist movements in South Africa, Vellem (2015) argued that BTL should not seek to reinterpret, rethink and repeat BTL’s tried and tested ways of responding to black pain caused by white racism and colonialism

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