UMOJA (UNITY) CIRCLE
Below are various pledges said daily in our shule (school)
OPENING PRAYER: SIFA YOTE KWA (ALL PRAISES DUE TO)
Written by Baba Mfundishi (This prayer is a mixture of Ki-Swahili and Medu Netcher)
Sifa yote kwa Ma'at All Praises to truth, justice and righteousness
Sifa yote kwa wetu Muumba-NTCHR All Praises to our Afrakan Creator
Sifa yote kwa maisha ya Afraka All Praises to Afrakan life
Sifa yote kwa Babu wetu wa Afraka All Praises to our Afrakan ancestors
Sifa yote kwa watu wa Afraka All Praises to Afrakan people
Sifa yote kwa asili kwaida ya Afraka All Praises to Afrakan Traditions and customs
Sifa yote kwa Mama na Baba wa Afraka All Praises to Afrakan Mothers and Fathers
Sifa yote kwa Watoto wa Afraka All Praises to Afrakan Children
Sifa yote kwa Taifa wetu wa Afraka All Praises to our Afrakan Nation
Sifa yote kwa wetu Muumba-NTCHR All Praises to our Afrakan Creator
Sifa yote kwa Ma'at All Praises to truth, justice and righteousness
BLACK MAN'S PLEDGE
Written by Nathan Hare
The evidence of anthropology now suggests
That I, the black man, am the original man
The first man to walk the vast, imponderable earth
I, the black man, am an Afrikan
The exotic, single quintessence of a universal blackness
I have lost by force, my land, my language, in essence my life
I will seize it back so help me
Towards that end, if necessary
I will crushhhhhhhh, the corners of the earth
And this world will surely tremble
Until I, the black man, the first and original man
Can arm and arm with my woman
Erect among the peoples of the universe
A new society, humane to its cultural core
Out of which long last will emerge
As night moves into day
The first truly human being the world has ever known
BLACK WOMAN'S PLEDGE
Written by Nathan Hare
I am the black woman
The woman of hope, pride and courage
My confidence in myself will forever flourish
Because I am the Black woman
I am Queen Hatshepsut (I am that Black Woman)
Betty Shabazz (I am that Black Woman)
India Irie (I am that Black Woman)
Phillis Yvonne Stickney (We are those Black Women)
I'll be a supportive, responsible and loving mate
The black man is my divine mate
Because he is my relations and connection to the sun
I am as beautiful as the universal blackness
Because I am the mother of humanity
And whenever I've been given the opportunity
I AM SUCCESSFUL
CIBI PLEDGE
We are Afrikan people struggling for national liberation
We are preparing leaders and workers to bring about a positive change for our people
We stress the development, of our bodies, minds, souls, and consciousness
Our commitment is to self-determination, self-respect and self-defense for our race
FLAG SONG
Praise the red, the black and the green
The brothers and sisters are being redeemed
Why don't you open up your eyes and see
Were on our way to being free
Because the red is for the blood that we shed
That black is for the race that's us
The green for the land uh, uh
So that the black folks can take there rightful place
Praise the red, the black and the green
The brothers and sisters are being redeemed
Why don't you open up your eyes and see
WE'RE ON OUR WAY TO BEING FREE
LIFT EVERY VOICE AND SING
Written by James Weldon Johnson (1899)
Lift every voice and sing, till earth and Heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise, high as the listening skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
Let us march on till victory is won.
Stony the road we trod, bitter the chastening rod,
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
Yet with a steady beat, have not our weary feet,
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered,
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered;
Out from the gloomy past, till now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.
God of our weary years, God of our silent tears,
Thou Who hast brought us thus far on the way;
Thou Who hast by Thy might, led us into the light,
Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee.
Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee.
Shadowed beneath Thy hand, may we forever stand,
True to our God, true to our native land.
