"An anthropologist proposed a game to children in an African tribe. He put a basket of fruit near a tree and told the children whoever got there first won the sweet fruits... When he told them to run they all took each others hands and ran together, then sat together enjoying their treats. When he asked them why they had run together like that as one could have had all the fruits for himself they said: "Ubuntu, how can one of us be happy if all the other ones are sad?" Ubuntu in their civilization means: "I am because we are." That tribe knows the secret of happiness that has been lost in many countries that transcend them and which consider themselves civilized societies." The anecdote itself is almost certainly a modern parable rather than a documented event from a specific anthropologist and tribe But the core message is real, and it beautifully illustrates Ubuntu — a genuine Southern African (particularly Nguni/Bantu) philosophy. Do you get the message America?