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So, you’re here to join me for my 9 p.m. Sunrise? Happy Kwanzaa! I hope you enjoyed your day. I just loved mine! -i am Shila Iris

Day 1- Instructions for Kwanzaa:

You should greet your friends and family by asking: Habari gani? (Translation: What’s the news?); and today, they can respond: Umoja! (Translation: Unity) Learn more about Kwanzaa here.

Tonight, let’s talk about the 1st Principle of Kwanzaa: Umoja, which means Unity. 

Allow it.
The mind opens
as the heart prepares itself for the full
embrace of the Season.
The climate has changed in my favor
The Sun kisses me as if I were near the Equator
She asks about my glow,
inquiring of the fullness of my belly
I say to her,
Umoja! 
I am at peace with the One inside of me,
he and I are unified eternally
He shall be the one I see when I look into the mirror
my reflection,
is adorned with the promise
of my maturity,
baby,
speak to me.  -i am poet, Shila 
_____________________________
What if you fully embraced images of you? Your hair, your heritage (find it), your family? It’s a melanin thing, more like a blood stream, more like the River Nile, pulsating, inside of me, it incites me, excites me…

TIMBUKTU, SEPTEMBER 2009: Caligrapher and Copyist Buboubacar Sadeck teaches students the art of ancient caligraphy on a Timbuktu rooftop, September 8, 2009. Timbuktu is a historical Malian city, a long established centre of learning for Africa, Islam is at the heart of that learning as is medicine, science, law and technology. All of that knowledge has been preserved in manuscripts written out by men like Buboubacar since the 11th century. Since the resurgence of interest in the manuscripts of Timbuktu, students are learning the art of caligraphy as both an artistic and economic excercise. (Photo by Brent Stirton/National Geographic.)

Les Desandann chorus from camagüey, performing in a sugarcane field. The chorus has haitian roots.

Guadeloupe winter carnival, Pointe-à-Pitre parade. A young woman, performer wearing traditional carnival outfit (waist up outdoor portrait).

I cannot be anyone other than me.

This is the Spirituality of Our Ancestors: Afrikan Aesthetics, I give you the first gift of Kwanzaa, us Unifying, is Oshun. Enjoy them, and let me know what you think. 

Read about them:

CONTRADICTING TRADITIONS

Kwanzaa: Obama Approved!
Music for tonight.

P.S. If you’re in Cleveland, you should check this out tonight (keep in mind, the start time can be misleading. Honestly, I think if you make it there by 11:30 pm, you’ll be good.

This Moment in Black History at Mahall’s. Click on the image for more information.

Peace & blessings manifest with every lesson learned,

Shila Iris