In the age of Gen Z, diversity, equity, and inclusion are becoming quite prevalent. For the Gen Z people that I have interacted with, these modes of showing up in a situation are assumed to be obvious. However, Gen Z is not the only generation in play, and so the question arising for me is about personhood and how we interact with persons. I recently had a great conversation with Robert Jaketch, and we explored different aspects of personhood, starting from the parental origin and continuing through spiritual participation. We came to learn that without seeing beyond the labels a person carries, it can be difficult to understand one another, and so there is a need for empathetic participation.
Persons are cultivated in families. Families give us the values that help us orient ourselves in a way that allows us to participate in life. This gives parents a huge responsibility. As a parent, you are essentially shaping the initial perspective of the persons you parent. In essence, you cultivate the first version of this person. For this reason, it’s important to account for this attribute when interacting with someone. In African Traditional Societies, naming practices were taken very seriously because just from your name, one can decode your family origin, and that tells them a lot about you, where you come from, and the culture that shaped you.
Cultures and traditions develop through repetitive practice, which requires a controlled environment. In the cultivation of a person, a home plays this role. Home becomes some kind of “school of life” where the family practices the different ways to embody their family values in an environment in which the consequences are very controlled. The goal is to build resilience and enable these persons to be independent enough to go outside the home and explore the world.
However, the drive to optimize for independence tends to trap us in an aspiration for perfection, and this usually leads us to miss the point. In this age of AI, one of the things that differentiates persons from “bottled intellect” is imperfections and errors. There’s an old saying that goes, “to err is human.” This saying speaks to the mystical aspect of persons. It is important to appreciate this mystery about humans because that orients us to approach them with wonder and curiosity.
Approaching a person with wonder and curiosity allows us to learn about how they perceive the world and what they mean when they communicate. This enables us to overcome meaning barriers and empowers us to participate with them as a partner rather than as an adversary. It’s this dialogical way of participating that reveals to us the spirit of the person that is beyond the labels they carry.
While the labels are useful and important for packaging and introductory purposes, we have to unwrap that which they conceal if we want to be in “right relation” with the person before us. Once that connection to the “spirit of the person” is established, true communing begins. At that point, we start to learn and grow together as persons who are participating together. These are some of the best relationships we can ever have in life.
However, in a world increasingly focused on efficiency, labels, and technological precision, we must not lose sight of the richness that comes from seeing beyond surface-level identities. The essence of personhood is not contained in the roles we play or the categories we fit into, but in the shared experience of being human—full of imperfections, emotions, and complexities that make us unique.
In many ways, the modern focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion is a step in the right direction, encouraging us to acknowledge and respect the differences that exist between us. Yet, true understanding requires more than recognition of diversity. It demands that we engage deeply, stripping away labels to see the person beneath. This process calls for empathy, curiosity, and a willingness to explore the nuances of each individual.
Families lay the foundation for this kind of engagement, cultivating individuals in environments where values are imparted, resilience is built, and curiosity is encouraged. But as we move from our family homes into the broader world, the responsibility to approach others with that same openness falls on us. Whether we are navigating generational divides, technological shifts, or cultural differences, our success in forming meaningful connections depends on our ability to see each other as persons first.
In the end, it is through these intentional, empathetic interactions that we begin to foster true relationships—ones that transcend labels and allow us to grow together. In an age where AI can mimic human behavior but cannot replicate the depth of human connection, it is our imperfections and the mystery of our personhood that make us distinctly human. By embracing this, we can move toward a future that prioritizes understanding and authentic participation, where we learn not just to coexist, but to commune in the truest sense.
