Beyond being the once key ingredient in soda, the Kola nut has a long history with our people that goes deeper than any sugary drink.

It's a symbol of peace, prayer, and justice. a In Igbola, they believe the color tree was the first tree on earth. The color

nut goes beyond sustenance. It symbolizes peace, prayer, and justice.

A famous Igbo is saying,

Unye Wotare Uje, Wister Euda, which translates to he who brings COLA, brings peace.

So typically as a visitor, you'd bring an offering of colonnuts to someone's home.

Highly regarded in Igbo-spirituality.

Cola-nuts are typically preyed over before rituals and ceremonies, and there's a deep belief that they're a favorite of God and the ancestor.

While some diasporic religions use calorie shells during mediation rituals, the Igboe traditionally use cola by breaking them into lobes and casting them onto the ground to be interpreted by the readers.

Cola nuts are also used to settle disputes and oath-taking.

When those involved in a dispute break, share, and eat the nut,

it is considered an oath that peace must reign and going back on the

bond is frowned upon. The sacredness of the cul-the-nut reminds us that for all of our people

to thrive, we must exist in community.

Coloniality and whiteness teaches us to value individuality over one another, but we must always return to our indigenous ways in which we've always known that I am because you are.

In order to move towards the future you've got to look to the past. This has been two minute black history, a

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