Skip to main content

What is Kwanzaa?

I thought that it should be important for me to do some research on Kwanzaa before I went all full throttle Kwanzaa mode.

Kwanzaa is a holiday created by Maulana Karenga. While secular in nature, it does celebrate the cultural heritage on Black people in America. The Seven core principles of Kwanzaa are:
  • Umoja (Unity): To strive for and to maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race.
  • Kujichagulia (Self-Determination): To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves.
  • Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility): To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers' and sisters' problems our problems, and to solve them together.
  • Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics): To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together.
  • Nia (Purpose): To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
  • Kuumba (Creativity): To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
  • Imani (Faith): To believe with all our hearts in God, our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

I definitely agree with most of the principles and I am definitely on board with celebrating blackness. The points at which I have some dissidence is it perceived position against multiculturalism and the secular humanistic influence.

At first I must mention that I like multiculturalism  I am a practicing christian, so I find it hard not to at least try to love other types of people. That being said, I am against separatist world view. However, I do not have a problem saying that there should be an emphasis on Blackness, especially within a society that has depreciated the value of blackness for so long. I think it is good, not just for the society on a whole but for the sustenance of black people within America. The suppression of that cultural expression is not opposed to Christianity (not considering libations LOL) but considering secular humanism and its support by Kwanzaa's creator, I would have to be weary in my celebration using this holiday. 


Next Post: Part 2 in the documentary response.
I'll try to fill you in on the Self Esteem thing by next week Monday.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

This Time

#Makeitwonderful So I'm up on this song right now. It's by Melanie Fiona and it talks about how much more the speaker/singer would put into their relationship the next time around. Take a listen or a watch... I think it's a powerful message for those seeking a second, third, fourth, fifth ... chance at life. Right now, I live with a family in which the husband must have done something bad in the past because no matter how much good he does (and he does a lot of good), it will never be enough. This is my issue. The past was hard to live through the first time. Why would I want to pay for it in every second for the rest of my life? This song speaks of putting the past behind and promising the best for the future. Let go of the past. I can't live with the guilt of the past. I can only pour all of me into a occurring present for a brighter future.  ...But I don’t wanna do it over The first time is gone away You can’t rewrite the past All I can do is say This t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Rebellion

When I was abo ut 17-18 (late teens), I woke up one Sunday morning and I opened my Bible to read. Now, it was during the time when I was very mystical about my Bible reading. Whatever verse I opened the Bible to had a "special" message for me for the day. So I would open and point/look. That morning I opened and my eyes rested on Ezekiel 12:1-3. This is what it says: The word of the LORD also came unto me, saying, Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house. Therefore, thou son of man, prepare thee stuff for removing, and remove by day in their sight; and thou shalt remove from thy place to another place in their sight: it may be they will consider, though they be   a rebellious house.  I was flabbergasted because I could define my house as being rebellious by the meaning of the verse. But I did not want to take the scr...
Post a Comment
Read more

Dreams never lived

We have to get rid of the idea that we understand ourselves,... -Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest I've been ignoring this idea for a couple of days, that I have not accomplished things that I have shied away from for whatever reason. It's depressing to think of how far I've gone from my unfulfilled dreams. I always settle for less than best.  I've dreamed of changing the youth program over here in California where I attend church. Never did it. I've dreamed of empowering my young people back home to make changes. Never did it. I've dreamed of becoming a Senior Youth Leader. Never finished! I've dreamed of being a Medical Missionary. Not accomplished. I dreamed of sining my own songs before people. Not done yet. I dreamed of writing tons of books. Completely unfulfilled. So in listening to the motivational speeches, I focus on things that I can do in the future rather than the things in the past that I have not accomplished but in truth, they...
Post a Comment
Read more