Global Dialogues

In Africa, amongst our differences, we share the same signified: “I am because we are.” Ubuntu (humanity to others), a popular virtue of compassion and humanity among the African people, reflects how, even in distinct cultures, the feeling of unification is the same. I learned from the great Dr. John Garang, the founding father of the Republic of South Sudan, that leaving behind our cultural, religious, and racial differences is the solution for bringing progress to a divided society.

In South Sudan, I have seen how war tears communities apart, displaces families, and erases the very sense of belonging that fraternity depends upon. But on the positive side of these events, I have also witnessed acts of solidarity among my people—the strength and optimism of youth who refuse to give up on their dreams and the wisdom of elderly men and women who believe in dialogue more than violence. These scenarios have convinced me that human fraternity is not a utopian dream, but a concrete reality to be rebuilt every day through empathy, justice, and collective conversation. To re-imagine human fraternity, we must first come to a common understanding of both our interconnectedness and shared vulnerability.

In our divided world, fraternity requires more than tolerance. It requires a moral imagination that is capable of reaching beyond borders, tribes, and ideologies. We need to unlearn the narratives that represent others as threats and relearn the language of kinship. Fraternity also calls for the need to bring other people along. We cannot call ourselves brothers, sisters, friends, or neighbours if other regions are being left behind in development, if refugees in camps don’t have education, healthcare, shelter, and food, or if racial and religious minorities are being excluded. Authentic fraternity challenges us to correct these injustices not as works of charity, but as obligations of administering social justice fairly to the entire human race.

As a university student, I am convinced that education, as Nelson Mandela once put it, “is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world,” and reimagine human fraternity. My experience so far in educational platforms such as conferences, discussions, and on campus has brought me face-to-face with people from other continents who share my fears and hopes for a better world. These encounters convince me that even if we all speak different languages or pray differently, our aspirations—to be seen, valued, and heard—are remarkably similar.

Reimagining brotherhood also means amplifying youth voices. From climate justice movements to refugee-led education movements, young people like me are already building a new solidarity that is rooted in lived experiences and radical hope, and all we need are resources and necessary support to help push and keep our impact alive in our respective communities. We must nurture these efforts and create more spaces, like the Georgetown Global Dialogues, where the margins converse with the center. In doing so, we are drawn closer to a world no longer defined by difference, but by common humanity.

Maghai M. Ghak (SFS'28) is a freshman at Georgetown University in Qatar.