Why We Celebrate Kwanzaa & the Nguzo Saba -

Our Afrikan-centered cultural, moral & spiritual principles -

Kwanzaa is Our Heritage Our Culture Our Pride - Our Way!

Kwanzaa was established to assist our Afrikan Amerikan Peoples in the Diaspora to reconnect with our Communities - who we are - "In order to restore our People to their former greatness". The greatness of our true Heritage, which is that of Afrika - the civilization that came before all the other civilizations! "We are not the children of slaves, but the Children of Afrikan Princes & our History is 10,000 years old!"

Calling all Our Afrikan Peoples: !!!

Let's celebrate Kwanzaa the way it was meant to be - in Our Homes, Our Families, Our Communities!!! I was taught years ago that every Afrikan should know what Kwanzaa is, how to celebrate it, pour Libation & honor our Afrikan Ancestors. Let's do this on the final day of Kwanzaa - January 1st - the Karamu ya Imani - the Feast of Faith.

We use Kiswahili terminology because Kiswhaili is the language & culture that developed in Central Afrika, where many different ethnic & language groups mixed to better facilitate commerce many Centuries ago. So we use Kiswahili to honor Pan Afrikan heritage since being in the Diaspora has caused us to be separated from our genuine Afrikan Roots. Therefore Kiswahili can be a unifying force in regaining our Heritage & realizing our magnificent cultural, social, economic & legitimate Power & our Traditional Greatness. Our Afrikan Civilizations are @ least 8,000 years older than the romans! Starting now, we must celebrate our Afrikan Values all year!

& we must teach these values & rituals to Our Own People & learn them from Our Own People, not from sources outside of Our Own Community. No matter how convenient or common it becomes for information & vendors outside Our Community to do these things, we must learn from, teach to, sell to & buy from Our Own Community in order to grow, develop & support Our Own Community. We cannot celebrate the values or Our Community & Our True Afrikan Heritage if we do not support each other & NO ONE ELSE has the right to - or is even qualified to - tell us who or what We are or how we should live our lives!

What follows is the Kiswahili Libation Ritual, passed down to me from an honored member of the Council of Elders to be used as part of the Kwanzaa celebration & any time we wish to honor our Ancestors & gather together as Afrikan Peoples.

With all respect to Our People, Our Ancestors, Our Heritage, Our Afrikan-Centered Way of Life.

hOTEP! Peace & Be Satisfied Sistah Sylvia P. Thomas, Balanta Peoples of Guinea-Bissau