That is what the lynching of 155 African American women and girls taught me. Looking at the picture of Laura Nelson hanging from the bridge over the Canada River in Oklahoma made it abundantly clear:
Before someone can devalue another’s humanity they first must have contempt for their own.
The antidote to contempt for self is, of course, Ubuntu. When we see NTU, the sacred, divine force behind all existence as good and perfect, we have to see good and perfection in ourselves. When we see good and perfection in ourselves, we must necessarily feel good about ourselves. When we feel good about ourselves it’s hard to feel bad about anyone or anything else.
