Words Set Me Free: The Story of Young Frederick Douglass

I am in love with this book,Words Set Me Free: The Story of Young Frederick Douglass.
Our  third grader has a poster report this month. It was not easy to find a non-fiction story at his ready level. We were in the library for 3 hours!!! We picked  books on Gandhi and Einstein  because let's be honest, I did not want to go there...I really tried to avoid slavery!!However this book is so well written and the illustrations are amazing. The author and illustrator did perfectly delivered this story with grace, compassion and pride.
So we  really loved  the story of young Frederick Douglas. First, it is a true and beautiful story.  Second,  it  did encourage our son to write and believe that "words can set him free". Finally,  as parents we had to confront our discomforts about slavery and race discrimination. I wished we had access to story like that when I was a kid...
I also love this story because it is an eloquent and subtle way to teach children that nothing in life comes easily. Finally, it is encouraging me to write children books one day about being immigrant, specially when our son asks if he is African, African American, or French American or just American...
Thousands of thanks to the author Lesa Cline-Ransome and illustrator James E Ransome for this book.
Thank you!!!
It is a perfect gift for African American History Month...
Same Moonlight for our Dreams

Book of the week: Le Héros de Kavomo by d’Agnès Barasokoroza

This is a very personal testimony by d’Agnès Barayiyaka born  Barasokoroza about the 1972 mass killing in Burundi. She is a family relative. I am really proud of her book.  Her testimony is peaceful and forgiving. I deeply appreciate that someone testified about May-July 1972. That period does not define me but the consequences did shape who I am today. In 1972, my grandfather was unjustly killed and my grandmother left alive! Ironically, due to the very selective character of the killing it is not labeled as genocide or holocaust!!The labeling does not matter, however a testimony of that period is a beautiful closure. Thank you Agnès Barasokoroza  for Le Héros de Kavomo. You did inspire me to write a book about my family!!!

Short description:
The testimony of Agnes Barayiyaka, born Barasokoroza is a striking illustration of the disastrous and disturbing clashes in Burundi in 1972 and their devastating consequences. Based on her experience and her father's experience (a man of great conviction and righteousness), Agnes Barayiyaka describes situations whose origins are found in Africa, certainly, but also in ideologies and colonial practices of the Europe.

She talks about  the disconcerting aspects, unjust, cruel and deeply inhumane.There is evidence in her great sensitivity,sadness, pain and melancholy. But at the same time, no page is marked by a spirit of revenge or despair.Quite the contrary, we can feel  across a genuine hope for a better future as long as the Burundian find and restore the values ​​of their traditional culture, many of which converge with those of the Gospel.

Le témoignage d’Agnès Barayiyaka, née Barasokoroza est une illustration saisissante et troublante des funestes affrontements au Burundi en 1972 et de leurs conséquences ravageuses. A partir de son expérience et de celle de son père (un homme de conviction et de grande droiture), Agnès Barayiyaka décrit des situations dont les origines sont à chercher en Afrique, certes, mais aussi dans les idéologies et les pratiques coloniales de l’Europe.

Elle en indique les aspects déconcertants, injustes, cruels, profondément inhumains.

Il y a dans ce témoignage beaucoup de sensibilité, de tristesse, de souffrance et de lassitude. Mais, en même temps, aucune page ne porte la marque d’un esprit de vengeance ou de désespoir. Bien au contraire, on sent poindre d’un bout à l’autre une espérance authentique dans un avenir meilleur pour peu que les Barundi retrouvent et restaurent les valeurs de leur culture traditionnelle dont beaucoup convergent avec celles de l’Évangile.

To buy go on  UniBook.com 

 

No Conflict Minerals in California!

"California is the first state to consider its own legislation to ease conflict minerals mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo out of the supply chain for electronics." from California leads US in taking a swing against Congo's conflict minerals by Talia Samuelson.

Please Sign the Conflict Minerals Petition here

SB 861 is a landmark piece of legislation that will help curb the trade in illegally extracted minerals from eastern Congo. The conflict in Congo is the deadliest since World War II, claiming more than 5.4 million lives since 1998. Rape has become a devastating weapon of war; hundreds of thousands of women have reported brutal rapes, a fraction of the estimated total. This bill could incentivize compliance with federal regulations on conflict minerals and the development of conflict-free products. In so doing, SB 861 could help show, once again, that California is a leader in protecting the rights of the most vulnerable in the world. I support swift and complete passage of SB 861.

In memory of Haiti earthquake

All my respects to Children of Haiti !!!

Same Moonlight for our Dreams...

A beautiful retro Zouk song, in homage of Haiti!

“Yon ti GESTE pou YO. Yon chapo pou yo.!!!! Nou gen lontan nap tann solèy leve. Bon DIEU tanpri, yon ti di yon parol pou yo!"

A Prophet -Un prophète by Jacques Audiard.

It is about the journey of a young North African prisoner in France. He is sentenced to six years in jail. I was expecting stereotypes and a lot of clichés. I was agreeably surprised. It is a fiction about  our fantasy “hero”, a Tony Montana like personage that makes it out alive.

In this pure fiction, I like how the racial tensions are portrayed.  The main character managed to stay alive. He went from the invisible “slave-maid” to the “ultimate gangster”. It is perfectly done because it already takes place in prison. It does take away the glamour of “wannabe Mafioso”.  

Seriously, it is a must watch. The movie is in French, Arabic, and Corsica with subtitles. It is nice to have movies about Arabs in France. It is sadly so familiar but the message coming out from some of  silent scenes is outstanding. One of the best films I have seen!!!

Verdict: Excellent !!

 Enjoy!

Soulful Vagabonds

Worldwide governments and citizens are struggling with “immigration”. In this global recession, immigration is treated like an epidemic requiring several forms of quarantine.  As immigration rate increase, deportations are skyrocketing. In this global unfair monopoly game, people are following the money. They are scavenging for resources. We are all doing it!!! The big difference is our locations on the monopoly board. It is the survival of the fittest. Immigration is a part of globalization.  This global community is without borders for people that have the right passports, visas, and wallets. It is also without frontiers for people that have hope and dreams!!The fortunate vagabonds are tourists or volunteers.

In my opinion, immigrants are soulful vagabonds that are tolerated in good times, and despised in hard times.Until the day, we are able to move to the Moon or Mars: Immigration will remain a problem on Earth!

To all  the aliens, citizens of the world and soulful vagabonds...

Same Moonlight for our dreams.

International Day for the Abolition of Slavery 2 December

"The International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, 2 December, recalls the date of the adoption, by the General Assembly, of the United Nations Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others (resolution 317(IV)of 2 December 1949)." 

http://www.antislavery.org/english/

After the Mayflower/ We Shall Remain

 It is amazing!!! PBS did it !! "We Shall Remain represents an unprecedented collaboration between Native and non-Native filmmakers and involves Native advisors and scholars at all levels of the project."I only watched "After the Mayflower". It is about Massasoit's dream of peace between the Wampanoags and English! It was a noble and humane decision to help the pilgrims. The alliance maintained some kind of peace.

However after his death, his son "Metacomet-Philip" has to deal with a new generation of English leaders.My favorite part is when Phillip as new Chief of Wampanoags remind the English that his people showed them mercy when they were weak. It was so powerful and painful...King Phillip was killed defending his land. And his 9 years old son was sent to the West Indies as a slave...

Beyond the dreaming of peace and strategic alliance, Massasoit's compassion must be remembered... 
It is a "must watch" in the American Experience series.
Same Moonlight for our Dreams.

Here  a passage from the episode:

"Jonathan Perry, Aquinnah Wampanoag:

After Philip was shot by Alderman, they dismembered his body.

The scarred right hand of Philip was given to Alderman as a trophy of the war. His parts were strewn about

the colonies, spread to the four corners.

Colin G. Calloway, historian: This is a warning to other people, to other Indian people. This is what the

English will... this is how the Enlish will deal with rebellion, deal with treason. And remember that in English

eyes Philip was a traitor -- and this was the punishment meted out by 17th century Englishman to traitors.

Narrator:

Massasoit's son was dead and scattered, but the colonists were taking no chances; they captured

Philip's son and heir -- a nine-year-old boy -- and locked him in a jail in Plymouth. While English authorities

deliberated on whether to sell the boy into slavery, or simply murder him, the Puritans gave thanks to their

God.

Jill Lepore, historian: And the final day of thanksgiving, of the war, is the day Philip's head is marched into

Plymouth. This decapitated head on a pole, its erected in the center, in the center of town and is cause for a

great celebration.

Narrator: They wouldn't take it down, Philip's head. For two decades -- while Philip's son lived in slavery in

the West Indies -- the head was displayed in Plymouth, a reminder to the Indians about who was in charge; a

reminder to the English that God continued to smile on their endeavor.

Colin G. Calloway, historian: 

It's hard to see how conflict could have been avoided and how the outcome of that war could have been different. Looking at the generation before this war, there is at least a moment,

where things were different."

Oblivion of Darfur for Gold

According to MININGREVIEW.COM, “Sudan has signed 10 exploration deals for gold, iron ore and other minerals… Mining minister Abdel Bagi al-Jaylani told Reuters that the exploration deals were with Sudanese companies and four international companies from Saudi Arabia, India, Great Britain and China, to search for copper, lead, iron, zinc and gold.” It sounds so simple!!!

Southern Sudanese independence Referendum will take place on January 2011. Knowing that the South has an estimated of 6 billion barrels of oil reserves, gold digging in the North is the best next thing!! Then in 2011, Sudan is expected to sign 50 mining agreements in three Darfur states-“Kassala and Gedaref in the east, and the north-south border region of South Kordofan”. It is simple, isn’t!

I would love to know if the zealous companies will take environmental issues in consideration. While Sudan is suffering from inadequate supplies of potable water, soil erosion, desertification, and droughts, I hope that they will not insult local populations by using scarce water or poisonous chemical cyanide and accidentally over pollute the Nile. The hydropolitics in the Nile basin is complicated and affect regional and global welfare.Another well orchestrated oblivion profiting gold diggers. It is not about secular southern Sudanese versus theocratic state in northern Sudan but about power. Independence... separation... Save Darfur…For more go on the  Enough project. And pray for rain and peace in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states...

Same Moonlight for our Dreams

Conversations With Myself by Nelson Mandela

Conversations With Myself by Nelson Mandela was released worldwide on Tuesday October 12,2010 in 22 editions and 20 languages. May his armor lay to rest ...

"In a foreword, U.S. President Barack Obama writes that Mandela, who largely retired from public life in 2004, is inspiring even if he is no saint..."Underneath the history that has been made, there is a human being who chose hope over fear — progress over the prisons of the past," Obama wrote. "And I am reminded that even as he has become a legend, to know the man ... is to respect him even more."

‘In real life we deal, not with gods, but with ordinary humans like ourselves: men and women who are full of contradictions, who are stable and fickle, strong and weak, famous and infamous.’ —Nelson Mandela

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson.

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration(1910s to 1970s) by Isabel Wilkerson. I saw her interview on the PBS. Like she says, it is a classic American story. She interviewed hundreds and chosen three people from different decades and regions. I love how she presents this great migration as “immigrants in their own country”. Wilkerson emphasized on the distinction of “Emigrants with an E because they were actually leaving one place for another place that they hoped would be better”. The author is powerful and the message can reach out to all classes, races, and cultures. She offers a comprehensive story about leaving the South. In my opinion, it is a deep exploration of the immigrant mind. It is not just a classic American story because we can all related to the need of better education for our children and freedom. I love the subtility about the migration itself. People did not want to become “somebody”. They had modest goals. They had the will, the determination that made them go beyond.  The migrations were about rights not the desire of power. She also pointed out that these migrants were usually married couples, or families. And they always send money back home for the relatives. It is the immigrant mind. It is that bitter sweet silence struggle between the will, the conscience and the heart. Professor Isabel Wilkerson did a great job. It is a brilliant epic story that exposes this part of history. I am buying this book! I am sure it will be a stunning painting with all the flavor of soul, blues and jazz.
Same Moonlight for our Dreams
THE WARMTH OF OTHER SUNS by Isabel Wilkerson (SNEAK PEEK)

Peace Day 2010 September 21

The UN international Peace day is on September 21. Yes, just one day, just 24 hours in 192 UN members states. A tiny break to focus on peace and life saving activities!It is a day a ceasefire and non-violence. We are all supposed to commit to take action toward peace. I will commit on finding some inner peace and take a pacifist approach all day. I will also remember my grandfather who died many moons ago in a civil war. And I will share some food with someone in need because it is obviously impossible to be non-violent when you are starving!! It is in few days. If we can follow a "just do it" to score in some games we should be able to "just do some" for peace. Mahatma Gandhi said that “Nearly everything you do is of no importance, but it is important that you do it”. A tiny break is nothing but important!!!




The Tookie Protocol for Peace A Local Street Peace Initiative by Stanley Tookie Williams
"There is no quick-fix remedy for the gang epidemic.
Here on death row I have discussed a street gang truce with individuals from different age groups, geographical locales, gangs, and mentalities. I discovered that my ideological and philosophical outlook on peace was in step with perspectives of the newer and the older generation. I also realized it is illogical to create a peace not based on an individual and collective improvement of the lives of community members. Failure to establish a truce that includes a social agenda will cause any negotiation for peace to relapse into war. I am convinced that peace is possible, despite the many lives that have been lost from years of youth gang warfare. This document is designed to assist those whose aspirations are to create a cease-fire, end gang violence and restore social order. Pessimistic individuals may quote the English translation of the Latin phrase, si vis pacem, para bellum – if you desire peace, prepare for war. But I strongly disagree.    Real peace will conquer war."

The emblem of revolution: Ernesto “Che” Guevara

Last year, I watched Che: part one and two at the theater. It was great, intense, poetic and inspirational. Finally, I watched the “The Motorcycle Diaries” over the weekend. Now, I can have my own review on both versions of Che Guevara. 
      In the motorcycle diaries, the Che had a compassionate attitude toward the leprosy colony ward. He is also portrayed as man who tells his truth regardless of consequences. This movie is about spiritual growth and consciousness. My favorite quotes are from Ernesto Guevara de la Serna: “This isn't a tale of heroic feats. It's about two lives running parallel for a while, with common aspirations and similar dreams.” “Wandering around our America has changed me more than I thought. I am not me any more. At least I'm not the same me I was.”
     As for the two parts movie, Che: It is about his personal passions. It is about the leader, the trademark, the revolutionary, the man. Benicio Del Toro amazingly delivers the struggle within his desires, his personal demons, and his political beliefs. After his death, Sartre declared him to be "not only an intellectual but also the most complete human being of our age” and the "era's most perfect man." Sartre also said of him that "he lived his words, spoke his own actions and his story and the story of the world ran parallel."
     That is why, I love a scene when the Che unveiled his crisp realistic view of our human parade. He warns his young zealous translator with “Little boy, no one is so necessary or indispensable in this life. Don’t go thinking that you are indispensable.” In my opinion this sentence alone was the essence of his power. He was balanced enough to be aware of his talents and humbled by reality. I am convinced that his perpetual asthmatic episodes did contribute to his mysterious devotion to humanity, justice, and solidarity.I will remember him as “the revolutionary foreigner" who did fight for universal justice and unity.

Few quotes from Ernesto “Che” Guevara himself”
Man and Socialism in Cuba (1965)
A school of artistic experimentation is invented, which is said to be the definition of freedom; but this “experimentation” has its limits, imperceptible until there is a clash, that is, until the real problems of individual alienation arise. Meaningless anguish or vulgar amusement thus become convenient safety valves for human anxiety. The idea of using art as a weapon of protest is combated. Those who play by the rules of the game are showered with honors — such honors as a monkey might get for performing pirouettes. The condition is that one does not try to escape from the invisible cage.

Letter to his Children (1965)
Your father has been a man who acted according to his beliefs and certainly has been faithful to his convictions.

Grow up as good revolutionaries. Study hard to be able to dominate the techniques that permit the domination of nature. Remember that the Revolution is what is important and that each of us, on our own, is worthless.

Above all, try always to be able to feel deeply any injustice committed against any person in any part of the world. It is the most beautiful quality of a revolutionary.

International Justice Day on July 17

Yes!! There is a system of international criminal justice. July 17th is the anniversary of the adoption of the Rome Statute, the treaty that offered the International Criminal Court (ICC). On the international Justice Day’s website, you can read this slogan: “July 17th will be a day of ACTION, REFLECTION, and most importantly, CELEBRATION!”

The ICC was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rome on 17 July 1998 and was implemented on July 1, 2002. About 111 states are members of the statute. However we must know that as of March 2010, the members make up all of Europe and South America, and about half the countries in Africa. This international “political country club” on justice only account for a minority of the world's population according to Wikipedia. In addition 37 states have signed but not ratified the Rome Statute. On top of this— Israel, Sudan and the United States — have "unsigned" the Rome Statute. Russia, china and India did not sign the statute.

Oh well, July 17 is a celebration of international Justice! And the international court is dealing with the situations in Kenya, Congo, Uganda, Sudan and Central African Republic. On a last note, ICC is recruiting African female lawyers. Go sisters; please go fight for international Justice, so we can keep on celebrating. 

Dreaming of Justice for Oscar Grant

We are dreaming of Justice beyond race and ethnicity.
We are dreaming of Justice regardless of stereotypes and prejudices.
We share the same blood and tears.
We share the same fears and dreams.

Oscar Grant was here and  still lives...

Pictures from http://www.sfgate.com

Please read more at:
http://oaklandlocal.com/article/being-schooled-injustice-mehserle-verdict-shows-injustice-bias-our-society-op-ed

Documentary: Lakota Today by Aaron Huey

Aaron Huey is a photographer for National geographic Adventure. With challenging and stunning images, he relates the fight for survival on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.Aaron captures the failures of the reservation system. The American dream of individual land ownership, illustrates the idea of  "the one who takes the best part of the meat." It is the same moonlight for our dreams...

Morality, Virtue and Us.

Albert Einstein states that "The most important human endeavor is the striving for morality in our action. Our inner balances and even our very existence depend on it. Only morality in our actions can give beauty and dignity to life."In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle’s practical philosophy is based on moral action, which is opposed to the intellectualism of Plato. For Plato virtue appears to be a high level of knowledge. While Aristotle has a practical and social approach for whom virtue is a mean between two vices, deficiency and excess. Plato ethics defines the essence of virtue while Aristotle ethics shows how to become virtuous. Aristotle offers a real concept applicable in society because individual are rational and social animals. Through the analysis of pleasure as virtue in Aristotle’s ethics and his divergence from Plato, I will demonstrate that his ethics is not relative to an individual and his subjective experience of pleasure.

In his first book Aristotle justifies that for most people; pleasure is the best measure of whether we achieve the end of our action. He says that most men seem to “identify the good, or happiness, with pleasure” (BookI,).And the good is the final goal to “which all things aim” (BookI,).For him the proper end of human beings is the pursuit of good and happiness. In his first book, he defines “happiness as something final and self-sufficient, and is the end of action”. Which concurs whit his argument stating that the end for all that we do, will be the good achievable by action.(BookI) What  he indicates as the proper end of human being is the “activity of soul in accordance with virtue”.(BookI). This activity of the soul is linked to pleasure because he claims that pleasure is a state of soul. Adding that pleasure and pain are measures acquired by all in childhood. “And we measure even our actions, some of us more and others less, by the rule of pleasure and pain” (Book II). By analogical examples, such as “a good shoemaker makes the best shoes” he explains that pleasure must be the result of the achieved appropriate action.

            Then, Aristotle clarifies his argument, with the example of the doctor: who does not study health on itself but the health of man, in order to prove that moral action is directed at proper ends.   And it should be in accordance with appropriate excellence. (Book I). And his term of “appropriate excellence” also refers to the mean between two extremes.  An important justification was made in (Book II) about virtue. He says that “virtue is a state of character concerned with choice, lying in a mean…relative to us, this being determined by a rational principle and by that principle by which man of practical wisdom would determine”.(BookII) The principle of moral action is also based on the deliberated choice. A deliberated choice required critical thinking, morale disposition, and good habit. According to Aristotle, virtue is a disposition to act voluntary. And the chosen action must be guided by the “right rule”. (Book III). This statement shows that pleasure is not sufficient to indicate a virtuous action. By “pleasure appropriate to an action completes it”, he means that a completed voluntary action guided by the “right rule” will creates pleasure (happiness). Aristotle makes clear that we do not deliberate about ends but about means. (Book III) So by acting in accordance to the “right rule”, one will choose the best mean. Aristotle clarifies that the virtuous act can only be done in a unique way, which must conform to the “right rule”, which I believe is related to the intermediate temperance. “men are good in one way, but bad in many.” (Book II) Therefore the pleasure will result from the activity of the soul in accordance to the appropriate excellence.

A crucial distinction is made by his argument that “ we should not consider a wise man as model but a temperate man”, who is virtuous because he repetitively acts virtuously. He claims that actions are just and temperate when they are such as the just or the temperate man would do”.(Book II).  This distinction supports the fact that the pleasure is not subjective to each individual. But rather conforms to acting virtuously as the temperate man would. Because only the temperate man chose the appropriate actions therefore act virtuously. Happiness does not come from simple satisfaction of life but from the accumulation of experiences in a lifetime.  Aristotle claims the happy man will be happy all his life regardless of “Turns of fortune’s wheel”. He states “he will be happy throughout his life; for always, or by preference to everything else, he will be engaged in virtuous action and contemplation,..” Pleasure (happiness) is not subjective because it set in the time. Virtuous actions must be done in accordance to the right rule followed by the “truly good” and “foursquare beyond reproach”.(Book I).  Even if virtue is relative to us, it is a rationally determined by the right rule in accordance to the mean. So virtue is not subjective even if relative to us because it rationally determined by the “temperate man”. He his the measure that we ought all to follow, is not “ a chameleon or insecurely based”(BookI)

In conclusion, Aristotle provides a very detailed and concrete study of pleasure as measure of virtuosity. Aristotle focuses on moral action rather than moral theory, by taking in consideration the social context. It is where he diverges from Plato. In Crito, Plato says that individuals should be lead by the educated elite, because the opinion of a group is not valuable. The elite would be highly educated and would know what is “just and unjust”.  Plato promotes a moral obligation to obey to the laws of the state. Whereas Aristotle believes that the right rule is the mean of human passions and desires, and the proper of human being is to be happy in accordance to the virtue. For him, we are masters of our actions from beginning to the ends (Book III). And he adds that “the good man differs from others most by seeing the truth in each class of things, being as it were the measure of them”(BookIII)  Plato believes that there is not finality in virtue because it comes from continual self inquiry. While Aristotle presents happiness “as something final and self-sufficient, and is the end of action”.  He makes clear that pleasure is not subjective to individual experience but it is determined by a rational principle, which is relative to us. “Us” stands form all rational members of society. His justifications show that his practical philosophy is not a relative because happiness requires a lifetime commitment to act in accordance to the norm. The consistency appeals to the moral duty of all members of the moral community to act as “the temperate man”.

By Aline Diop-Nkunzumwami

Book of the week: Women, Race and Class by Angela Davis

In this book, Angela Davis offered a perspective on feminism as the intersection of race, gender, and class. With my Afropolitanism; race, gender, and class are definitively in the mix. I am also looking for a book on African feminism. Growing up my mother used to remind me that western feminism was not mine. Her fear was that her only daughter will remain a tomboy for the rest of her life. I did respect and enjoy everything my mother did teach me. I did learn how to cook, serve, host and be a respectful African lady. In the meantime, I played sports from rugby to basket ball, never wore girly clothes, and skateboarded my way out of adolescence. As a foreigner trying to find my way, it was difficult to accept my womanhood with race, and class issues.  Angela Davis message is about unity. She underlines the necessity for women, regardless of race, to work together. Once again thank you all ladies for being such great friends, sisters, mothers, and women. And thank you dear mother for your patience.

Universal Justice in a Global Community

In Letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. states that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. In this global community, justice cannot be relative to cultures and societies. Universal justice must value local needs with mixed tribunals.  The “artifice” of justice is a necessity that requires our cooperation. I want to believe that justice comes from our “innate sympathy” to our community. And even if we are social animals we can go beyond a justice for “just us” to justice for all.  

According to Hume, morality principal task is to search for ways to eliminate contradictions in the “passions” of sympathetic persons, which are “aware of their own and fellow’s desires and needs, including emotional needs”. For Hume, the passion is a primitive state without control, or convention. He claims our passions are corrected by sympathy not by “law-discerning reason.” His philosophy is based on desire and beliefs. He dissociates practical reasoning from morality. For Hume, human sentiments reflect our humanity, which determine beneficial actions. "Here therefore REASON instructs us in the several tendencies of actions, and HUMANITY makes a distinction in favor of those which are useful and beneficial."(Hume)Even if reason indicates the probable ends of an action, passions incite people to cooperate to satisfy their own desires and emotional needs. The capacity for sympathy is an anchor for morality because it offers “a general good will” acting with the concern of humanity.(Hume).  Reason according to Hume is the slaves of our passions. He writes “and that reason and sentiment concur in almost all moral determinations and conclusions.” (Hume). For him, justice is a virtue that requires both moral sentiment and reasoning. 

 By examining Hume’s concept of natural and artificial virtues, I will define his theory of utility, and discusses the value of justice as virtue, to demonstrate that his notion of justice is not relative to culture and society.  Artificial virtues are based on social conventions, while natural virtues are instinctively driven from our humane nature. Innate sympathy, friendship, natural affection, public spirit, and compassion are examples of natural virtues. Justice is one example of artificial virtue because it depends on social convention. Society imposes rules of action to which all members adhere given that it is an interested obligation. By writing “In all determinations of morality, this circumstance of public utility is ever principally in view; and wherever disputes arise, either in philosophy or common life, concerning the bounds of duty, the question cannot, by any means, be decided with greater certainty, than by ascertaining, on any side, the true interests of mankind.”(Hume) Hume introduces the concept of “public utility. He defines it as “the true interest of the mankind” to lay down his utilitarian philosophy. The public utility benefits the overall well being of members of a society. He stipulates that justice is a virtue because it serves “public utility”. He mentions that “The use and tendency of that virtue is to procure happiness and security, by preserving order in society.”(Hume) 

  Hume explains that in case of ‘unlimited abundance” justice is inappropriate because there are conflicts about property and necessity.(Hume) Or in case of “extreme benevolence” there is no need for convention to regulate social interactions. “nor would the divisions and barriers of property and obligation have ever been thought of.”(Hume)   The role of justice is to promote happiness and social order in accordance to public utility.  It reiterates his definition of utility and justice by stating that “public utility is the SOLE origin of justice, and that reflections on the beneficial consequences of this virtue are the SOLE foundation of its merit.” (Hume) The rules in Hume’s concept of justice are based on “observance” not on “consent” to obey. Those conventions are progressively established to fit the social interactions. People tend to cooperate in order to progress toward their overall best interest. He gives the example of the language; in all language there is common knowledge of good, used as for general maxims to act morally.  Therefore justice through public utility is natural as well as an artificial virtue because our humane nature leads us to cooperate, and conventions are tools to support justice in order to promote happiness according to utility. Hume claims that justice is an appropriate virtue only among equals; the fate of Native Americans was not based on justice or “even humanity” because Europeans felt superior to them. He writes “The great superiority of civilized Europeans above barbarous Indians, tempted us to imagine ourselves on the same footing with regard to them, and made us throw off all restraints of justice, and even of humanity, in our treatment of them.” (Hume)

Conventions to promote utility such as justice are observed by all members of society regardless there cultures. In the example of language, he demonstrates that “all languages universally express the highest merit, which HUMAN NATURE is capable of attaining.”(Hume) Moreover, Annette Baier in “Hume, The Women’s Moral theorist?” explains that the “Human artifice of justice” could not be constructed without self control and cooperation. Even if it is first selfishly directed, it progressively becomes socially coordinate to benefit everyone. She offers the example of “family cooperativeness and inventive self-interested reason” to promote a mutually beneficial cooperation.(Baier) She asserts that justice is a virtue only among equals that practice self control in the interest of all members of society.

          
  Hume believes that men desire social virtues. Men believe that these virtues are beneficial. However, justice is the sole virtue that promote “public utility”. Hume uses the term of innate sympathy to shows that this moral sentiment is not determined by artificial virtues such as society or culture. Nevertheless it is socially coordinate to benefit all. Hume succeeds to show that justice is not culturally nor socially relative for the reason that justice instinctively driven by “human nature” which universalize it. Given that the capacity for sympathy anchors morality, Hume's justice is not relative to society because it based on “a general good will” to act with the concern of humanity.(Hume) I believe that Hume's theory of utility lays down an "rule utilitarian" form of utilitarianism. Justice serves social utility, so people observe general maxims to promote the greatest happiness as a collectivity. He clarifies that "The convenience, or rather necessity, which leads to justice is so universal, and everywhere points so much to the same rules, that the habit takes place in all societies; and it is not without some scrutiny, that we are able to ascertain its true origin."(Hume) This argument supports that the necessity rather interest obligation makes justice universal in all societies.

By Aline Diop-Nkunzumwami.