One Tribe: A Powerful Song for the Human Family

Approximately 335 million years ago, the Earth was one large supercontinent called Pangaea—just a single large body of land with one group of living species.

Roughly 175 million years ago, Pangaea started to break apart. Gradually, as the tectonic plates under the planet’s land masses shifted, the continents that exist today started to form.

After that massive, gradual formation of the Earth’s continents, scientists say that humans originated on the continent now known as Africa. Gradually we human beings began to migrate and colonize the Eurasian landmass, then on to India, Southeast Asia, Australia, the Middle East, Asia, Europe and beyond.

The science clearly shows that every one of us originally came from one land and one people. So how did we come to the conclusion that some of us were better than others?

Ye dwell in one world, and have been created through the operation of one Will. – Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 334.

Can you imagine creatures on another planet going about their lives? Let’s visualize some of these beings as having gold eyes and others with silver eyes. Neither eye color makes any difference whatsoever to their existence. If we were able to observe these life forms, wouldn’t we deem it preposterous if one creature thought they were better than the other because of the color of their eyes? We would certainly think these creatures weren’t very advanced.

O Children of Men! Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust? That no one should exalt himself over the other. Ponder at all times in your hearts how ye were created. Since We have created you all from one same substance it is incumbent on you to be even as one soul, to walk with the same feet, eat with the same mouth and dwell in the same land, that from your inmost being, by your deeds and actions, the signs of oneness and the essence of detachment may be made manifest. – Baha’u’llah, The Hidden Words, p. 20.

Originally we all originated from Africa, with a beautiful dark skin color. When did we get the notion that another skin color was better? Skin color, like eye color, has no bearing on anything.

As time went on, we began to separate ourselves into various nations, and not being very spiritually evolved, some decided their nations were better than all others—or their color, gender or class were better than all others. I would imagine that if intelligent creatures on other planets observed us here on Earth, they would see this as unjust and ridiculous:

When the people of the future are asked, “To which nationality do you belong?” the answer will be, “To the nationality of humanity.  I belong to the army of the Most Great Peace.” The people of the future will not say, “I belong to the nation of England, France or Persia”; for all of them will be citizens of a universal nationality—the one family, the one country, the one world of humanity—and then these wars, hatreds and strifes will pass away. – Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 18.

It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his own country, but rather for him who loveth the whole world. The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens. – Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 250.

For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Mark 8:36

Lately I’ve found all of these concepts in a song: “One Tribe” by the Black Eyed Peas. It expresses brilliantly, in music, exactly who we are. The message of the song, and of the Baha’i Faith is simple and clear—we all came from one God Who loves each and every one of us. Our purpose is to learn to live together peacefully in harmony, unity, and love; all religions, races, genders and nations.

We are one people, one tribe.

One Tri,
One Tri,
One tribe, one time, one planet, one race
Its all one blood, don’t care about your face
The color of your eye
Or the tone of your skin
Don’t care where you are
Don’t care where you been
’Cause where we gonna go
Is where we wanna be
The place where the little language is unity
And the continent is called Pangaea
And the main ideas are connected like a sphere …

But we need to be one

One world, one love, one passion
One tribe, one understanding
’Cause you and me can become one.