NIA Internalized

NIA: the 5th principal of Kwanzaa
NIA = Purpose: To make our collective vocation in the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.

Everyday I look at faces, varied hues of vanilla, caramels and browns
some creased with lines from pain, worries and frowns.

The lines reflect the struggles, tears and fears
of not making it and the smiles of when they did.

I'm asking a question, I pose it to you
while you think about it to thine own self be true.

What is your purpose
your legacy, your song
what is your reason, your passion, for what do you long?

One sistuh crying pleading for help
another is dying all by her self.

A girl child is sexin -- giving it away
A woman is using "not again" you say.

Some mother, grandmother, child living on the streeet
yet we pass her daily
never her eyes do we meet.

To give her a dime, a quarter, a dollar or two.
or give her nothing forgetting
there but for the grace of God go you.

Nia collective purpose what is that all about?
It's all us in the same struggle without a doubt.

Empathy sympathy are not one in the same.
It's about sharing victories and soothing another's pain.

Community is not just the block where u live
It's a community of sistuh-hood where we all have something to give

A word of kindness, a hug, a smile
sharing someone's burden going the extra mile.

So what does NIA really mean to you?
Ponder it deeply to thine own self be true.