The venerable Sweet Honey, a product of twenty-five years of association, are a catalyst for social reformation as much as a musical entity. Six African-American women (five singers and a sign-language interpreter) sing in the '19th Century congregational style'; their material is drawn from the spirituals, work songs, Western-African traditionals and gospel that accompanied the tribulations of their forebears, and then evolved to include so much more-jazz and blues. Their passion can be heard on the record's opener, 'We Are The Ones We've Been Waiting For,' the lyrics of which are from a poem honoring South African women, and as such are a message of freedom to all women, and to all that are not free. 'Chant,' a round from central Africa, employs vocalized syllables; the imagination does the rest. 'Motherless Chil'' uses the repetition typical of this form, as each line reinforces the next to its inevitable conclusion, for which their can be no argument. 'Greed,' a sermonette by Bernice Johnson Reagon, is an indictment of a decadent society. While the music of Sweet Honey is an acknowlegement of the human condition, it is also a prescription of hope and healing.