We Still Need Kwanzaa
Do we still need Kwanza? Oh my yes!
I was just 12 in 1966 when the cogent brain child of Maulana Karenga envisioned the need for a cultural ritual to connect us with positive values and principles we could associate with the continent of Africa.
Just barely in his twenties, as he watched the world around him unravel, something caught hold of him spiritually in community with US that allowed him to think and feel more broadly about what might provide an experience that would be uplifting and unifying for black folk. As the streets of LA burned, and the Black Panthers found their niche in political and armed resistance. How might the Black Power movement articulate values that honored all things black throughout the diaspora.
As a preacher’s kid from Southern Maryland, born Ron Everett, he knew the limitations of a Christian church led model that would leave youth behind while wrestling with the challenges of assimilation, integration and the intergenerational conflicts of young people embracing new ideas while clinging to respectful notions of what would please their parents as they ventured forth in a new America that had not quite changed.
What was happening in America in 1966 ? Cutting my long hair and not straightening my hair and shortening my skirt and wearing an afro was enough to reverberate chaos and disrespect through most black families. What did that have to do with being black
Maulana Karenga as the magnificent 80 year old Elder speaks eloquently from a vantage point you can’t have in your youth. A scholar activist, yet still in the rash moment of youth plants seeds. A philosopher introduces us to what black cultural nationalism looks like circa 1966 and with any luck, we can take it from here.
In college by 1973, our black student newspaper was named Kujichagalia, by 1997 , my professional midwifery organization adopted a midwife of color position to represent the traditional interests and perspectives of indigeneous and black midwives flourishing. Pan africanism and Africana studies blossomed and raised students who learned and questioned and created new ways of seeing the world and our place.
As Black Lives Matters legitimizes concerns that our Elders may addressed for decades, it is the youth full of rebellion and resolve that have the courage and risk-taking strategies that every movement needs. There is a place for everyone at the table.
In Dr. Karenga’s 2021 statement :
https://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org
https://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/documents/2021AnnualFounderKwanzaaMessage.pdf
He renews and refreshes the relevance in 2021 as we revisit values that support
While we place Kwanzaa in a historical context, we can revisit it each year as a cultural festival with new meaning and introspection. A new year’s resolution, looking back and looking forward. Kwanzaa presents an introduction to black cultural nationalism that has been enduring. What does it mean to be black, to be of African descent, to share a culture that is linked wholeheartedly to Africa? While at the same time acknowledging the disruptive nature of how we experienced the traumatic disconnection from each other and our roots.
Nguzo Saba
7 Principles: Kwanzaa Values Clarification 2022
UNITY
There is no one definition of being black
SELF DETERMINATION
Allow me to name and define myself and you can do the same, I am listening!
COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILY
Your problems are mine, I can help! You are my brother, my sister, I care! Embrace the Love! We are intertwined! Embrace the Earth! We are free
COOPERATIVE ECONOMICS
My time, my talent, my treasure matter, where and how I spend my money makes a difference.
PURPOSE
I can mind and tend to my purpose and bring my unique gifts to the table.
CREATIVITY
My creativity is my power, my full expression is needed for us to succeed!
FAITH
I have faith in you. I have faith that all will be well! I have faith in things I cannot see at this moment. I have a faith in a God of my understanding. My faith replaces my fear.
We can begin to ask ourselves, what does it mean to be black and to have an explanation that is not a simple reference to our oppression, dislocation, and false beliefs regarding the insidious mystery of white supremacy. What does it feel like to belong and to have our identity include every aspect of our whole self?
This year as last year as I searched for ways to celebrate Kwanzaa that extended beyond candle lighting with close family and friends. I was graciously invited for the second time to a virtual Festival hosted by a Detroit based group that has met for over forty years to solidify by example that all are welcome at the table including same gender loving folk and LGBTQ family of choice who may not have been formerly included in the same breath as family friendly.
I might not have traveled to attend from the East Coast, but as I have learned many times over, the pandemic has provided opportunities to gather with folks I might have never otherwise encountered. Rather than a gathering where we wondered who was not there, we asked ourselves what is the work that we need to do within ourselves within our own circles of sharing what the cultural values that have indeed sustained us over time.
What is our cultural connection for most of us to a place that we have never been, yet a place and acknowledgment of a place and the land that so defines US. The “US”, Dr. Karenga was talking about when he encouraged us to consider changing our names, while we looked longingly in the mirror and continued to see nothing good.
What might we want to see move forward as a gift of reclaiming or learning what if for the first time, that we had a history and culture that was worthy of pride? No more talk and angst about intersectionality, we are human, and whole, and we can experience unity, and belonging without conformity.
A non religious, biblical experience of poetic scripture for us all where we “ Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”
When I asked my grand daughter what she knew about Kwanzaa ; she said: “ grams is that the Jewish thing like Christmas when you light the candles.” I said no that wasn’t it. She said grams that is so old skool… black is like tick toc Instagram.
Maybe I would hope she would just click and search for a YOU TUBE video. I wouldn't have to say anything at all. When I asked my grandson to join in to the ZOOM and say hello, he said “NO” in a tone I wouldn’t have even considered using with my grandmother or anyone even fifteen minutes older than me, I was interrupting his FORTNITE battle. For some reason, I heard anger and frustration and fear and loneliness from our children without even a hint of disrespect! My cheeks burned with embarrassment, but my small breakout group knew about the sting without me explaining.
So …yes I have some serious ELDER work to do like listening to them and translating and remember they are always watching even when they say they are paying us no mind. We need the 7 principles now more than ever articulated in a way that guides us in a sea of plagues and gun violence, and our children allowed to raise themselves without us, without hope and sadly without the love we are to busy to show up for.
We’re never going back, nor should we; those were not the good old days…nostalgia notwithstanding. We are creating a new world where we matter. We are not asking them. We are calling on US. We are their cushion of Hope against despair, we are the Love holding out the Light.
Black Candle: Documentary History of Kwanzaa
https://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org
So on this day, the very last day of the year… renew your black subscription… Invite yourself to a Kwanzaa Festival. Fill in the blanks, watch one, do one, teach one… Be a good listener!
What matters to you? What are your values that you can share throughout the new year and the next? What Joy sustains you? What’s your purpose? Make it happen!
References…and more stuff to read…and watch and add to your playlist when you have a moment. Have a ritual of culture, pride and belonging!
https://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1966.html
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Fighting_for_US/hXoTCgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover
https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/karenga-maulana-c-1943/
women of the Calabash
1 Corinthians 12:4–13
