HOW THE MAGNOLIA TREE WAS BORN
          BY YAHIMBA UHURU

Many, many years ago in Ancient Afrika, there was a beautiful kingdom ruled
by a wonderful, and free-loving king. His kingdom was rich and fertile and
he treated everyone with the utmost respect. His kingdom never went to war,
and only knew love and beauty. The people who lived in this wonderful kingdom
never went without, and shared their wealth with neighboring kingdoms. A
life was never taken, and no harsh words were ever spoken. Love flowed freely
throughout this wonderful land. The great king took care of his subjects
so well that no one ever wanted to leave. Everyone took care of each other,
including the animals. All life was respected from the tiniest creature
to the babies of the kingdom. All was well in this land named Ailongam (ah-e-
long-am). It could not have been better ruled. Everyone was given the opportunity
to learn everything the king knew. He set up classes for farming, herbology,
astromony, mathematics. languages, and most of all-unconditional love. Everyone
and everything in the kingdom was happy. All was good in the kingdom of
Ailongam. The trees of Ailongam bore great fruit and provided shelter and
shade on those days when the heat was intense. They provided homes to birds
and insects and gladly gave up wood to the people of  Ailongam. The king
loved his trees and showed them much respect. Whatever the people took,
they always replaced. If a tree had to be cut down for wood or another reason,
it was replaced. The people respected the balance of nature, and all was
good. Sometimes the people in the kingdom would sit at the king's feet and
listen to great tales of the ancestors that came before them. "We are a great
and mighty race! " the king would exclaimed. In appreciation to the Earth,
the king would throw a feast and share all his wealth. He would have his
people visit the neighboring villages and kingdoms and share their wealth
and knowledge. They always felt it was enough for everyone. Everyone loved
the king and the king loved everyone. His looks were a reflectionof his
goodness. He stood tall and strong with deep setting eyes. His skin was
bronze and perfect. But  his most outstanding feature was his lips. Not only
did kind words and goodness pass through his lips, but the fullness of them
made them very unique. His lips were his most promient feature. They were
truly a gift from God. Some may have said that they were too big or too
full, but only the Creator knew why He gave the king such lips. One beautiful
morning the king called the people of Ailongam together. "Today we will
gather food, herbs, medicine, clothing, and horses. There is a village not
far from here that needs our help. Go and gather those things so that we
may feed and clothe our fellow man." The subjects were excited about the
venture and eagerly gathered the things together. It took 20 horses to carry
everything that they had collected. The king had gotten word that this village
was in dismay and poverty and he sought to remedy that situation. Unfortunately,
the overseer who ruled the village was an evil man. Everyone in the village
was frighten of him, for it was known that he would not hesitate to behead
you if you did not agree with him. The king decided to go anyway. He would
walk with God in his heart and nothing could stop that. Later in the day
they reached the village. It was a very dismal sight indeed! The village
was in total povety, and the villagers were dirty and hungry. There were
actually people in the road who had just dropped  there from hunger. The
king and his faithful subjects were appaled  at what they saw. Babies were
crying from hunger, and the people lived in tattered shacks. The villagers
were excited to see this parade of goods . The subjects gave out food, clothing,
and medicine. They washed the babies and help clean up the village. The
king presented the village with tools and seeds as well as the 20 horses
he brought. Everyone was elated, everyone except for the overseer. He cursed
the king and advised him not to try to fix something that was not broken.
"You must leave and leave now!!!!!" he shouted. The people of the village
stood in fear. The king's heart wept. "I do not want your village, I only
want to share my fortune", he exclaimed. "Get out, we do not need you or
your precious items!" The overseer was furious. Just then, he walked towards
the king and pierced his heart with a dagger. The king fell down and the
sky instantly darkened. The villagers as well as his subjects watched in
horror as the life left the king's body. "No one rules my land but me!" he
shouted. The subjects wept and picked up the king's body. They wrapped it
in gold silk and headed back to the kingdom. Upon arrival and seeing the
condition of their king, the people fell down and cried. They began to prepare
a resting place for their great king. It was decided that he would be buried
on a beautiful  green open space surrounded by nature. After preparing the
king's body for his final resting place the people proceeded to the land.
They placed his adorned body into the Earth and wished him well. The intensity
of the tears soaked his resting place until the ground was damp with tears.
The next morning when the people awoke, they led a procession to the king's
resting place. Lo and behold there stood a wonderful and magnificient tree,
a tree that bore hugh, white flowers. The people were amazed and happy.
They knew that the tree was a representation of their loving king. They
decided to name the tree-MAGNOLIA. The kingdom continued to prosper and share
its wealth and before they knew it, the land was filled with the Magnolia
trees. The people were happy. So now you have the story of how the Magnolia
tree came about. Now the reason the people of Ailongam named it Magnolia
is because that is the spelling of their kingdom backwards. If you take
one of the leaves from the tree and hold it sideways it looks exactly like
the lips of the great and mighty king. To him we salute the Magnolia and
we thank the Creator for its beauty!

Yahimba Uhuru