African histories and philosophies matter in personal life and therapeutic practice

Understandings gained through a personal Sankofa journey revisiting family history through the lens of Ubuntu

Abstract

This article aims to show why African histories and African philosophies matter, both in our personal lives and in therapeutic practice, through the telling of my own experience. In this article I recount my ongoing personal journey to reclaim and reconnect with my African heritage, by revisiting my father’s African history through the lens of the African philosophies of Ubuntu and Sankofa. Prompted by discovering my father’s writings from the 1960s, when he was a university student, I learn more about his story and the African philosophies of Ubuntu and Sankofa. The Southern African philosophy of Ubuntu centres our interrelatedness and common humanity: a person is a person through other persons. The West African philosophy of Sankofa tells us not to be afraid to go back and retrieve that of value which has been lost or forgotten, and to bring it with us on the future journey. On my own Sankofa journey I go back to revisit my writing from the 1980s, when I was a university student, discovering the connections with my father’s writing from the 1960s. I reassess my earlier understandings through the lens of Ubuntu and come to recognise how the spirit of Ubuntu permeates my father’s writing and was absent from my own. I reflect on how my personal Sankofa journey has enriched my life. I consider how African philosophies can be integrated into therapeutic practice and invite the therapy profession to embrace African histories and philosophies. I consider the need for more African histories and invite Africans to write authentic histories, to honour the past and guide the future.