Regardless of what you celebrate and how, I
hope that you, as ECLECTICALLY BLACK PEOPLE are continuing to - or
beginning to - keep the culture of KWANZAA alive and well.
Despite the
derisive campaigns that have suddenly arisen among many of our comedians
claiming that no one, or few Black people continue to celebrate or
recognize KWANZAA - it is still alive and well and living in New York,
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and other areas where you find
educated, emancipated, intelligent Black men and women.
These not so subtle attempts to separate Black
people from their cultural heritage is nothing new. They (caucasoids)
have apparently worked with ersatz comic writers to infuse Black
comedians with these state in order to subtly brainwash us into thinking
KWANZAA was no longer fashionable, or relevant to Black people by
cracking jokes about it. I heard it first on Trevor Noah when Roy Wood
jr. - part of his ensemble - began to crack jokes about no one
celebrating Kwanzaa any more. Then, this morning, as i was listening to
the Steve Harvey Show on WDAS-FM (Black owned radio), I heard the same
derisive statements being made. I wondered how many people hard this
and believed was true - as this trend begins to mushroom and find legs,
how many will fall in line, lock step with the jokes and throw their
own culture under the bus?
We can't afford to be so ignorant and
nonchalant about our culture, about the struggle of our people, which
continues through to this day and how we've adapted, managed to survive
and surpass the horrors of slavery, jim crow and current day racism.
stripped of our culture by rapacious racist caucasoids.
So when an enlightened brother tries to bring
the cultural pride we've lost and been deprived of, through developing a
cross section of our lost heritage in modern times for ourselves and
our children going forward, it's disingenuous of our Black artists to
try to use it as the brunt of jokes. Sadly there are enough gullible
fools out there, and those have no sense of cultural/racial pride, who
are looking for and excuse to not be Black. I love Steve Harvey and
Trevor Noah - watch and re-watch them all the time. Just want them to
understand that this not a good look or a good thing for our Black
people.
We laugh and joke a lot - Black people own
laughter in the face of adversity and tragedy - but if you keep saying
that Kwanzaa is bogus, somewhere down in their subconscious minds, it
begins to take hold and become a self-fulfilling situation. It's like
the ersatz news anchors continuously sneaking in snide remarks about
President Biden, and predicting that T-rump and the repuglycons will win
in the Mid-term election. The same lie told enough times over and over
again becomes a not-so-subtle form of brainwashing, self fulfilling
prophecy and a defeatist subconscious self sabotage posture begins to
run throughout the Black community - and results in our eventually
helping the enemy by succumbing to the lie.
HEY
YOU GUYS! KWANZAA IS ALIVE AND WELL AND
LIVING IN BLACK AMERICA - WHY DON'T YOU MAKE SURE YOU GET TO AND
PARTICIPATE IN AT LEAST ONE OF THE CEREMONIES IN YOUR COMMUNITY. As the
STAPLE SINGERS SAID: "If you don't respect yourself, ain't nobody
gonna give a good cahoot!!" Watch your writers - sadly, quite a few of
them are not necessarily part of our culture or community. I don't know
if you have artistic control over the material you are given, but
everything that's funny may not be beneficial.
IJS - Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria DULAN-Wilson
THAT SAID - HERE'S ONE THAT IS GOING TO TAKE PLACE IN PHILADELPHIA (by the way, one out of several - IJS):
Greetings
We
invite you to join us for the first day of Kwanzaa UMOJA (Unity) Sun.
December 26, 2021 and the sixth day KUUMBA (Creativity) Sat. December
31, 2021 for the Kwanzaa Associates Inc, Million Woman March (AMBHR-Federation of Philly), and the DXE Enterprises & Tip Top Printers "KWANZAA" CommUnity Celebration and Social 2021.
Program Highlights Include:
Open Mic and Jam Session (Bring your instruments and noise makers)
Children's Craft Table
Featuring The Tyehimba Drummers (Dec. 26, 2021)
Open Forums and Panel Discussion Topics Include:
History and Importance of KWANZAA - Showing of The "Black Candle" film
Examination of Violence and Abuse in the Black Community
The History of "Watch Night" and The Role and Responsibility of the Black Church: Past Present and Future
ALSO:
Embracing the NGUZO SABA (Seven Principles) of MAAT and Kwanzaa Everyday
"Practical Unity" A tool for advancing Fundamental and Operational Unity
Developing greater CREATIVE modes of operations to advance Black Independent Institutions, Business, Justice and Liberation.
This is in remembrance, reflection and uncompromising reaffirmation of our people and their radically transformative struggle. There is so much damage done to memory and mission in our lives and to our sense of self by large and small concessions to the constant call to let go and move on regardless of what is lost or left behind. We sacrifice so much in our rush to forget, stay in style or keep in harmony with the official writers and rulers of society. However, whatever we are and will become, we must give appropriate attention to our history, in spite of all the counsel from outside to forget the past, worship the present and forfeit our future for things embraced and enjoyed now.
Thus, on this 25th anniversary of the Million Man March/Day of Absence, October 16, 1995, we must be careful not to forget or diminish the impact and importance of this great event of the 20th century. It was not just the brilliance and timeliness of the idea by Min. Louis Farrakhan, who rightly read the urgency of the historical moment; nor the size of the MMM/DOA in D.C., 2 million men and women, rivaled only by President Barack Obama’s inauguration. It was also the exemplary organizing work that went into it by the Nation of Islam and the local organizing committees which activists built in over 318 cities. And it was the important role of the National Executive Council and National Organizing Committee formed on the principle of operational unity and to reaffirm the openness to women, especially in the Day of Absence activities, but also in the March itself. And finally, the significance of this moment and Movement in history, was its impact on the men, as well as the women and community, their heightened political consciousness and practice, and their active recommitment to strengthen our families and our people in positive and concrete ways.
However, the critical reading and rightful remembering of history is not automatic or easy, but requires steadfast resistance to the established order’s version of things. Indeed, from the beginning, the established order and its allies attempted to discredit the MMM/DOA and deny its numbers and its clear and cogent emphasis on social policy and social change. This dual emphasis is obvious in the Million Man March/Day of Absence Mission Statement, written by this author, and which evolved as a consensus policy document, an earnest effort by the National Executive Council to build on common ground and bring forth some of our best thinking and deepest commitments in our life and struggle as persons and a people. The statement of mission offers us a way to keep alive the spirit and social aims of the Movement by studying the document and struggling to bring the aspirations enclosed to fruition and fulfillment.
The Mission Statement begins with a conscious recognition of the critical juncture of history at which we are living and the challenge it poses for us, i.e., issues of racism, classism, sexism; deteriorating social and environmental conditions; the country’s and governments’ “dangerous and repressive turn to the right” and their “producing policies with negative impact on people of color, the poor and the vulnerable; and the urgent need for transformative and progressive leadership” and audacious activism. Especially stressed was our commitment to “reaffirming the best values of our social justice tradition which require respect for the dignity and rights of the human person, economic justice, meaningful political participation, shared power, cultural integrity, mutual respect for all people and uncompromising resistance to social forces and structures which deny or limit these.”
We had posed and pursued the MMM/DOA as a challenge to both ourselves and society, stating our “understand(ing) that the challenge to ourselves is the greatest challenge. For it is only by making demands on ourselves that we can make successful demands on society.” Moreover, “we declare(d) our commitment to assume a new and expanded responsibility in the struggle to build and sustain a free and empowered community, a just society and a better world.” And we noted that “we are aware that we make this commitment in an era in which this is needed as never before and in which we cannot morally choose otherwise.”
The March’s stress on the Black man’s standing up was placed for two basic reasons. First, “some of the most acute problems facing the Black community within are those posed by Black males who have not stood up.” Secondly, “unless and until Black men stand up, Black men and women can’t stand together and accomplish the awesome tasks before us.” We had challenged the corporations and government to act responsibly. For we argued, central to our practice of responsibility is not only holding ourselves responsible, but also “holding responsible those in power who have oppressed and wronged us.” We criticized the U.S. government for participating in one of the greatest holocausts of human history, the Holocaust of African enslavement and demanded reparations. Moreover, we called for an end to its criminalizing of a whole people, policies destructive to Black leadership and the Black community, unjust imprisonment, war and war mongering, degradation of the environment and reversal of hard-won gains.
And we called for “an economic bill of rights, universal, full and affordable health care, affordable housing, rebuilding the cities, protection of the environment, and a halt to privatization of public wealth and space.” We also called for honoring the just claims of Native peoples and an international policy of equal treatment of African and other Third World refugees (and immigrants), justice and peace, as well as cancellation of debt and for self-determination for all peoples. And we called on the government “to increase and expand efforts to eliminate race, class and gender discrimination and stop pandering to White fears and White supremacy hatreds and illusions.” For corporations, the call to responsibility included the demand to respect the dignity and interests of the workers and the integrity of the environment; to share and reinvest profits back into the community; and to provide business opportunities and development programs in order to halt and reverse urban decay.
We ended the Mission Statement with a challenge and call to ourselves to sustain and institutionalize this moment and Movement. This was to include a new and independent political practice and economic initiative; a massive ongoing voter registration process, and rebuilding the Movement and an effective Black United Front. It also called for strengthening of family and community “thru quality male/female relations based on the principles of equality, complementarity, mutual respect and shared responsibility in love, life, and struggle, (and thru) … loving and responsible parenthood.” It also included a call for “continuing resistance to police abuse, government suppression, violations of civil and human rights and the industrialization of prisons;” freedom of political prisoners and prisoners’ rights; struggle against drugs and communal violence; support for independent schools and public education; building independent media and reshaping established-order media; increasing organizational involvement; solidarity with other Africans; alliance with other peoples of color; challenging our religious institutions to be more socially conscious and involved; and practicing the Nguzo Saba, The Seven Principles.
We concluded the Mission Statement saying, “through this historic work and struggle we strive to always know and introduce ourselves to history and humanity as a people who are spiritually and ethically grounded; who speak truth, do justice; respect our ancestors and elders; cherish, support and challenge our children; care for the vulnerable; relate rightfully to the environment; struggle for what is right and resist what is wrong; honor our past, willingly engage our present and self-consciously plan for and welcome our future.
Dr. Maulana Karenga, Professor and Chair of Africana Studies, California State University-Long Beach; Executive Director, African American Cultural Center (Us); Creator of Kwanzaa; and author of Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture and Essays on Struggle: Position and Analysis, www.AfricanAmericanCulturalCenter-LA.org; www.OfficialKwanzaaWebsite.org; www.MaulanaKarenga.org.
Today is Christmas - and we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ - sent to save us from our own stupidity and iniquities, and to teach us to love one another and don't do to others what we would not want to be done to us, among other principles. Principles which, if really applied in the spirit in which they were given, would have made a vast difference in today's world. However, human beings being who and what they are - imperfect, flawed and always evolving (or devolving) - were constantly defiling the rules for the most part (with the possible exception of Sundays). Christmas is the time where most of us take time out to gather as families and commemorate the blessing and the Gift that keeps on giving - God's love for us.
There are those who feel that the celebration of Christ's birth has become overly commercialized and an excuse for spending exorbitant amounts of money in the guise of celebrating the miracle that occurred more than 2000 years ago. Some claim it has become paganized by the introduction of a mythological character, "Santa Claus," Christmas Trees, lights, decorations, music, etc. However, it is to be expected when you filter it through a eurocentric translation - far removed from the original African birth. However, there was no edict from God that we had to be rigid in our celebration. He gave us freedom of choice, free will, creativity and imagination for a reason.
I freely admit that the Christmas season is one of my personal favorite times of the year - It's one of the most beautiful times of the year. People are more open, generous, their creativity and energy are heightened, and they focus more on love, blessings, miracles, joy, faith and reverence. Christmas opens the heart.
Kwanzaa, which was founded in 1966 by Maulana Ron Karenga, as an alternative to Christmas. He enunciated the Nguzo Saba ( Seven Principles) which more focused on cultural and character development based on African principles - that are in many ways more in keeping with many of the principles Christ stood for. And the fact that have practical application in today's world make them even more significant.
I celebrate both Christmas and Kwanzaa, and do not find them in conflict with each other. So for me, it's not either or, it's both and. In New York, Imhotep Gary Byrd fosters the practice of the Nguzo Saba 365 days of the year, and starts most of his radio broadcasts off quoting which day represents which principle he's focusing on, and some ways in which his listeners can incorporate it into their day. It's not only good for us as adults, but a great way to inculcate the meaning and practice for our children. So that by the time Kwanzaa rolls around, our children will have developed an understanding of the principles and begun to incorporate it into their lives.
When my children were young, they were taught to make their own gifts to exchange among themselves - each gift represented a different principle of Kwanzaa. But I won't pretend that it was an easy transition for them to go from celebrating Christmas to Kwanzaa. In fact, the first year we tried to ditch Christmas and just celebrate Kwanzaa, my husband and I found out the hard way that you can't take Christmas away from a child cold turkey (LOL). My daughter, Kira, who at the time was 6, was totally in agreement with the idea of Kwanzaa and getting a different gift each day. We carefully explained to her that Kwanzaa began on December 26 - the day after Christmas, and ended New Years Day. She helped us put together the mkeka, kinara and other symbols in preparation for the celebration.
Since we were preparing for Kwanzaa, we did not purchase a Christmas Tree, even though we did sing some of the sacred Christmas songs and talked about the real meaning of Christmas. On Christmas eve, we put Kira to bed, and proceeded to watch TV, secure in the knowledge that we were fully invested in our Blackness and that we were likewise raising a child in the spirit of Kwanzaa and Black consciousness. I was headed to the kitchen past her bedroom and heard her crying quietly into her pillow. When I went in to find out what was wrong, my little daughter burst into tears and started crying hysterically, "It's not the same! It's not the same!" There was no tree, no lights, no decorations. Lou saw how upset she was and decided to go out and get a tree. He must have gone to every Christmas Tree lot in Manhattan and they were completely sold out. Not wanting to see her cry, he actually took left over limbs from trimmed trees and built her a tree, complete with lights and decorations, which helped to lift her spirits. From that point on, we decided that we would celebrate both traditions. And I've been doing it ever since. While that may or may not work for everyone, I don't think the two are mutually exclusive.
For those who are not familiar with Kwanzaa and the Nguzo Saba, or the philosophy behind it, I've included a message from Maulana Ron Karenga, who will be in Philadelphia, PA on Saturday, December 30 and West Philadelphia High School (3901 Chestnut St., 19139) at 6:00 PM.
But also the Museum of Natural History in New York, and the African American Museum in Philadelphia will be celebrating Kwanzaa from December 26 through December 30; and Kenny Gamble will be presenting a Kwanzaa celebration at the Audenreid High School on December 30, from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM featuring Sonia Sanchez and the Universal Dancers and Dummers. For more detail, check out the December23 edition of ECLECTICALLY BLACK NEWS - EVENT ALERT, KWANZAA
Feel free to share it with friends, family and community.
So Again, Merry Christmas and Kwanzaa Kizuri!!
HARAMBEE!!!
Symbols and Insights of Kwanzaa:
Deep Meanings and Expansive Message
Dr. Maulana Karenga
Each year the coming of Kwanzaa causes us to come together in celebration, remembrance and recommitment. And it also urges us to constantly study and learn the deep meanings and expansive message of Kwanzaa, not only in its grounding philosophy, Kawaida, and its core Seven Principles, but also in its symbols. This article invites us to do this.
Kwanzaa was conceived as a special time and space for celebrating, discussing and meditating on the rich and varied ways of being and becoming African in the world. It invites us all to study continuously its origins, principles and practices and it teaches us, in all modesty, never to claim we know all that is to be known about it or that our explanations are only for those who do not know much about its message and meaning. For each year each of us should read and reread the literature, reflect on the views and values of Kwanzaa and share conversations about how it reaffirms our rootedness in African culture and brings us together all over the world in a unique and special way to celebrate ourselves as African people. One focus for such culturally-grounded conversation is on the deep meanings and message embedded in the symbols of Kwanzaa which are rooted in Kawaida philosophy out of which Kwanzaa and the Nguzo Saba were created. Indeed, each symbol is a source and point of departure for a serious conversation on African views and values and the practices that are rooted in and reflect them.
The first symbol is the mazao (crops) which are symbolic of the African first-fruit harvest celebrations from which Kwanzaa takes its model and essential meaning. The mazao represent the harvest of good and the reward of collective and productive work. Indeed, the concept of the harvest embodies and expresses the Nguzo Saba, the Seven Principles. For the purpose (Nia) of the harvest is to bring and do good in the community and the world. It is a purpose conceived and pursued in unity (Umoja), self-determination (Kujichagulia), and collective work and responsibility (Ujima). Moreover, it is developed with a resourceful creativity (Kuumba) and grounded in a resilient faith (Imani) that believes in, works for and looks forward to its coming into fruition. And cooperative economics (Ujamaa) rightfully represents the harvest as the product and practice of shared work and shared wealth, i.e., the cooperative creation and sharing of good.
The second symbol of Kwanzaa is the mkeka(the mat) symbolic of our tradition and history and thus the foundation on which we build our lives, in a word, our culture. It stresses the need of foundation, of cultural anchor to ground and center ourselves. In Kawaida philosophy, we say we base everything we do on tradition and reason, meaning we constantly dialog with our culture, asking it questions and seeking from it answers to the fundamental concerns of daily life and enduring issues of humankind. And then using the best of our moral reasoning, we select the appropriate solutions, the most ethical and effective way forward. Again, to stress the centrality and indispensable role of tradition, the other main symbols are placed on the mkeka.
The kinara, the seven-candle candle-holder is the next symbol of Kwanzaa. It is symbolic of our roots, our parent people, our continental African ancestors. Although in both principle and practice this, in a larger sense, includes all our ancestors, continental and diasporan, stress was placed at the beginning on continental roots, to return us to the original source of our history, culture and coming-into-being as a people. For as Molefi Asante says, there is no stepping outside our history without great difficulty and damage to our sense of self. This is why we emphasize with Malcolm X and Mary McLeod Bethune, a long historical conception of ourselves and of the legacy of excellence left to us.
The kinara holds the next symbol of Kwanzaa which is the mishumaa saba (the seven candles). The mishumaa saba are symbolic of the Nguzo Saba, the Seven Principles, the hub and hinge on which the holiday Kwanzaa turns, the African value system that is an essential foundation and framework for our living a good and meaningful life and the strivings and struggles central to this. To place the candles in the kinara is to remind ourselves of the ancient culture in which our principles are rooted and to reaffirm the enduring value of returning to the source.
And to light the mishumaa is to engage in the ancient ritual of "lifting up the light that lasts." For the principles are the light that lasts in the midst of constant and often disruptive and diversionary changes and challenges that occur in life. Indeed, the Husia teaches that "We are given that which endures in the midst of that which is overthrown." And that which endures in the midst of that which is overthrown is our moral and spiritual values. Surely, the ethical values represented in the Nguzo Saba, both explicitly and implicitly, are among those lights that last and should and must be constantly lifted up as a beacon and basis for the good life we seek to ground and build.
The muhindi (corn), more specifically ears of corn, are another symbol of Kwanzaa. They are symbolic of our children and thus our future which they embody. In the agricultural and naturalistic understanding of African communal societies, the life-cycle of corn represented the life-cycle of both humans and nature in which they are embedded. For example in Zulu cultural narratives of origins, the cornstalk represents the ancestors or parents and the corn represents the offspring in an eternal cycle of life, death and rebirth. Children thus become a form of life after death, our future unfolding in front of us.
Here there is a strong stress on quality parenting and collective parenthood. For parenting is not only the responsibility of a specific mother and father, but also an extended family of other relatives and the community as a whole. This is the meaning of the often offered wisdom that it takes a whole village or community to raise a child. And it speaks to both the importance and inclusiveness of the task of raising children in the most ethically and culturally-grounded ways.
The kikombe cha umoja (the unity cup) is symbolic of the foundational principle and practice of umoja (unity) which makes all else possible. The kikombe is used to drink from after a statement of unity in a ritual of reinforcement of the principle and practice. And it is also used in pouring tambiko (libation) in a ritual of remembrance, honor and appreciation of our ancestors and their legacy of excellence we are obligated to preserve, expand and pass on.
The zawadi (gifts) are symbolic of the labor and love of parents, rewarding their children for commitments made and kept. These gifts are never to be overly expensive or a substitute for ourselves. And they must always contain a heritage symbol and a book to reflect and reinforce our commitment to our culture and to knowledge and a life of learning, respectively.
The two supplementary symbols are the bendera and a poster or other representation of the Nguzo Saba. The bendera (flag, banner) colors of black, red and green symbolize Black for our people, red for our struggle and green for the hope and future that is fostered and forged in struggle. And the representations of the Nguzo Saba reaffirm their central role in our life and struggle for the good world we all want and deserve to live in and leave as a legacy for future generations.
Dr. Maulana Karenga, Professor and Chair of Africana Studies, California State University-Long Beach; Executive Director, African American Cultural Center (Us); Creator of Kwanzaa; and author of Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture and Essays on Struggle: Position and Analysis,
It's been quite some time since I've done a calendar of events - there have been so many intervening situations - but I definitely need to get back on track with keeping up with what's happening in our communities.
But it's the Christmas/Kwanzaa Season - and there are too many opportunities to be involved to miss. So, here we go!!
First of all, Kudos to State Representative Vanessa Lowery Brown who made it official that December 26 throughout January 1 is to be celebrated as Kwanzaa Week in Pennsylvania!!!
Pennsylvania State Representative Vanessa Lowery Brown and Gloria Dulan-Wilson
Following unanimous adoption of Kwanzaa resolution,
Brown to host Kwanzaa celebration event
A resolution (H.B. 626) sponsored by state Rep. Vanessa Lowery Brown, D-Phila., designating Dec. 26 through Jan. 1, 2017 as “Kwanzaa Week” in Pennsylvania was unanimously adopted in the House of Representatives.
Created in 1966, Kwanzaa is an African-American holiday that celebrates African heritage throughout the world.
“Thank you to my colleagues in the House for recognizing the cultural significance Kwanzaa holds for people of African descent throughout the world,” Brown said. “Kwanzaa reflects the resilience of the African-American spirit. It allows us to pinpoint and reconnect with our long lost culture.”
To commemorate the holiday, Brown is hosting a Kwanzaa celebration event from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.Saturday, Dec. 30 at the African American Museum in Philadelphia, 701 Arch St. The event will feature cultural presentations and performances by local artists to tell African history through storytelling and song. Brown’s staff will be available to answer state-related questions on programs such as the Children’s Health Insurance Program and the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
This family-friendly event will be free and open to the community. Attendees must RSVP and receive a ticket to attend by contacting Brown’s constituent service office at 215-879-6615.
Following this Kwanzaa Event there will be a special Kwanzaa Celebration at West Philadelphia High School 4901 Chestnut St with None Other than the Founder Maulana Ron Karenga from 6:00 Pm until
January 1, 2018 (IMANI - FAITH)
NOW THAT YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?
