Happy Kwanza!!!

[Diane]

Today is the first day of Kwanza. Kwanzaa is a unique African American celebration with focus on the traditional African values of family, community responsibility, commerce, and self-improvement.

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[JoB]

what a great focus this year for the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve…

Happy Kwanza!

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[velo_nut]

Pretty sure it is Kwanzaa unless you are speaking Swahili. The name Kwanzaa derives from the Swahili phrase matunda ya kwanza, meaning first fruits of the harvest. The choice of Swahili, an East African language, reflects its status as a symbol of Pan-Africanism, especially in the 1960s (when the holiday was created)

In any case… Happy Kwanzaa.

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[Diane]

I prefer the Motherland spelling; either way:

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Seven guiding principles, one for each day of the observance, and is celebrated from December 26th to January 1st.

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Umoja (oo-MO-jah) Unity stresses the importance of togetherness for the family and the community, which is reflected in the African saying, “I am We,” or “I am because We are.”

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Kujichagulia (koo-gee-cha-goo-LEE-yah) Self-Determination requires that we define our common interests and make decisions that are in the best interest of our family and community.

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Ujima (oo-GEE-mah) Collective Work and Responsibility reminds us of our obligation to the past, present and future, and that we have a role to play in the community, society, and world.

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Ujamaa (oo-JAH-mah) Cooperative economics emphasizes our collective economic strength and encourages us to meet common needs through mutual support.

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Nia (NEE-yah) Purpose encourages us to look within ourselves and to set personal goals that are beneficial to the community.

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Kuumba (koo-OOM-bah) Creativity makes use of our creative energies to build and maintain a strong and vibrant community.

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Imani (ee-MAH-nee) Faith focuses on honoring the best of our traditions, draws upon the best in ourselves, and helps us strive for a higher level of life for humankind, by affirming our self-worth and confidence in our ability to succeed and triumph in righteous struggle.

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[JanS]

Thanks for that, Diane. I never knew that.

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[FrogBaseball]

kwanzaa was created by ron karenga who is a convicted felon and black nationalist. you might as well celebrate a holiday created by david duke. a racist lunatic is still a racist lunatic no matter what color.

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[JoB]

FrogBaseball..

i am going to assume that is true since it isn’t worth investing time looking up…

Christmas was a pagan holiday adapted by the sweet folks that brought you the inquisition… Christians torturing Christians because they weren’t Christian enough… not to mention the racial persecution that accompanied it.

that doesn’t mean that my celebration of Christmas is affected by the excesses of the middle age any more than anyone else’s celebration of Kwanza need be affected by Ron Karenga..

Even bad people have good ideas…

I like the idea of celebrating we today..

try it..

you might like it.

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[FrogBaseball]

it is true about kwanzaa. you can look it up yourself. and yes christmas is the amalgamation of stolen pagan rituals and dates. doesn’t mean you should ignore the real history behind either because it is not pleasant. celebrate whatever you want but don’t sugarcoat it in the name of diversity and not wanting to offend. call a spade a spade.

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[JoB]

FrogBaseball…

Santa.. that jolly old elf… was invented by Cocacola to sell their product … but that doesn’t make him any less lovable.

the seven guiding principles of Kwanza seem pretty straightforward and worthwhile to me…

We still have time left to work on the WE thing today:)

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[sunshine]

So what if Kwanzaa was once a crappy idea that came from a terrible person? Would that define its meaning and value?

The creation of an idea or work of art is such a personal, intimate act. But once it is in existence, the idea or work of art no longer belongs to its creator.

People can experience and appreciate the beauty of Wagner’s work, but also disagree with his anti-semitism.

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[WesCAddle]

LOL… Santa was NOT invented by CocaCola. Good one.

Next you’ll be trying to convince us Seinfeld invented Festivus!

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[JoB]

WesCAddle

the vision of Santa that we currently have as a jolly old elf in a red suit with white fur was invented by cocacola..

and is about my age even if he was born an adult:)

ok.. so he is a little older than me:(

http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/heritage/cokelore_santa.html

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[TheHouse]

Let me approach this from a different angle:

1) I don’t care what you want to celebrate. It’s one of the liberties we all have being American.

2) The two major holidays this time of year are Christmas and Hanukkah, both RELIGIOUS holidays. Kwanza is accurately reported in Post #1 as “a unique African American celebration with focus on the traditional African values of family, community responsibility, commerce, and self-improvement”. That means that Kwanza cannot be readily lumped in as an equivalent to Christmas and Hanukkah since it is not a RELIGIOUS holiday. Instead it celebrates a race and on every website it specifically states it is an “African American” celebration. Plain and simple, that is racist (that’s not even considering it’s roots and the 1960s movement that started it).

From a religious standpoint 90% of Africa follows either Christianity (they would celebrate Christmas) or Islam (they would follow the 5 Pillars).

From a racial standpoint, are there any other holidays that single out a specific race?

From a heritage standpoint, do we have any other holidays centered around “Insert your heritage here – Americans” (example Irish-Americans, Chinese-Americans, Italian-Americans, Russian-Americans or best of all, American Indians)?

I’m all for celebrating some of the points mentioned in Post #4, but at least make it so that everyone feels like they are part of it and use words that everyone can pronounce).

Oh and thanks for the laugh about Santa Claus being invented by Coke. I guess dreidels were invented by Manischewitz.

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[TheHouse]

And this link to Thomas Nast on Wiki proves that he drew a pic of the Santa that we know and love 60 years before Coke got their grubby hands on him.

Now that’s “nasty”!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Nast

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[Leroniusmonkfish]

And “Boxing Day” was created by “Muhammad Ali”. One of the most recognized Canadians of all time!

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[JanS]

and no one goes out and drinks green beer on Mar. 17, and wear pins that say “Kiss me, I’m Irish”

I don’t understand what the beef is with Kwanzaa, or African-Americans celebrating it. Why do we have to be at odds about it? Why does everything have to be so damned PC for some of you? It’s not hurting you, it’s not infringing on anything you want to do, it has nothing to do with you, if you’re not African/American.

And for the record, Mr. Karenga went on to become a college professor at Cal State in Long Beach, CA. If one knew nothing about this man except that and the fact that he was the impetus behind Kwanzaa, would you have a problem? While we’re all shouting “racism” behind this holiday, isn’t some of your attitudes just a tad bit racist? Especially using the term “calling a spade a spade” in the context of this conversation. Just a poor choice of words?

Kwanzaa has evolved from what it originally was, as has Christmas. So, your point is? What? Does it advocate violence? Does it harm you? Does it denigrate you in some way? I doubt it does any of those things to any of you protesting. Why do you care at all? Why does everything like this have to turn into a problem for some of you, or do some of you just like to have something to “bi*ch” about?

Sigh…

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[JoB]

the House…

did you not notice that Nast was a political cartoonist and that his santa.. though rotund with a beard.. did not wear a red suit with white trim.. but a red white and blue suit… or that those gathered around him were not children?

he was being nasty.. not delivering the lovable santa that delights our children. Sorry Charlie..

However, i would have been more accurate to say that coca cola popularized our current image of santa…

http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/santa/cocacola.asp

without them, who knows which image would have stuck? I myself prefer the more european St Nickolas…

either way.. can you explain to me how Santa Claus or reindeer or those cute christmas bears or ??? … how any of that is religious? And that’s just talking about the popularized mainstream images …

Labeling Christmas and Hannuka religious pretty much ignores the mad rush to the malls that fuels our retail economy… or any of the cultural festivities that are part of this holiday… including your christmas tree. Even Hannuka has decidedly cultural manifestations within the jewish community…

As JanS pointed out, you have to look no further than green beer to find a holiday that celebrates a single race… and that is just the short list. So, what makes Kwanza racist? the fact that those who celebrate it are primarily black? That would definately be racist.

In case you didn’t notice, Diane’s post was an invitation for all Americans to share in the cultural traditions of Kwanza… not another marketing plea… Like any good holiday, Kwanza comes with presents too:) nitpicking about things like spelling or whether or not this holiday has religious roots won’t get us there…

So in the spirit of today’s task:

“Self-Determination requires that we define our common interests and make decisions that are in the best interest of our family and community.”

I am going to selectively look at your post for any comments that express common interests… and see if they can provide common goals…

“I’m all for celebrating some of the points mentioned in Post #4”

Success!

and Diane has helpfully provided pronunciation..

“”Kujichagulia (koo-gee-cha-goo-LEE-yah) “

While this may seem a little difficult to wrap your tongue around at first, i am sure that words like Mukilteo and Tukwilla were a little difficult as well until you became familiar with them.

I remember moving to Minnesota and finding myself confronted with Mahtamedi :( that some effort.

***

I think Kwanza has something to add to the cultural stew that is America if we give it a cahnce…

after all even TheHouse thinks there might be something to some of the daily goals that are the backbone of Kwanza… That has to be a start.

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[Cait]

Kwanzaa isn’t racist – or at least it’s not intended to be. I think why they mention it being an African American holiday is to explain the fact that not everyone celebrates it (just like Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday.) I remember in my elementary school in the early ’90’s we were all taught the different days of Kwanzaa, what they mean and how they are celebrated. I never thought of it as an exclusive thing, it’s just another way to celebrate what most of us are trying to celebrate this time of year.

For many people this time of year is about being with family and slowing down for at least one day. Call it whatever you want, but do it and respect other people’s rights to do it without judgment. There’s plenty of judgment to be thrown at Christmas as a religious holiday too, so let’s just call it a draw.

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[JoB]

i slept through most of this day.

my pups definately think i am not taking my responsibility for community seriously enough

off to trader joes.. our family’s common ground:)

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[TheHouse]

St. Patricks Days has been whored out like many other holidays (Christmas included) to celebrate something other than what it was originally intended to celebrate. It is supposed to be a celebration of Saint Patrick, not drinking green beer.

Job states: “you have to look no further than green beer to find a holiday that celebrates a single race… and that is just the short list. So, what makes Kwanza racist?”

TheHouse retorts: “Irish isn’t a race, it’s describing someone from Ireland or of Irish decent. To answer your question about what makes Kwanza racist, all you have to do is ask yourself this:

Would a holiday celebrating Caucasian Americans be considered racist? If your answer if yes, then you’ve answered your own question. If you answered no, then you’re a liar.”

You still haven’t come up with another holiday that celebrates a race besides Kwanza.

Doesn’t it suck when I’m right?

I’m going to start my own new holiday that is a year long celebration called “Dontbeadroidmas”. It will celebrate pillars like: Think For Yourself, Don’t Be A Victim, You Are Human & Supposed To Be Intelligent and many other pillars of anti-liberal thought.

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[Cait]

Kwanzaa isn’t a day celebrating African Americans themselves.

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[Jo]

Thank you, Diane, for your explanation of Kwanzaa.

I’m willing to bet that most of these ‘know-it-all’s about every subject imaginable’ posters didn’t know the first thing about why Kwanzaa is celebrated or what it stands for.

Sorry, folks, if that points the finger at you, but honest to God.

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[JoB]

theHouse…

holidays that celebrate the irish… or the italians… or the english… or the french… or the germans… all celebrate Caucasians.

I am guessing you join in enthusiastically for many of those… most are considered an excuse for a party and are celebrated with generous amounts of alcohol.

I am also guessing that no matter what flavor of ethnicity you celebrate, you weren’t born in the home country. For most of us, our connection with that ethnic group is several generations past… yet that doesn’t stop me from wearing green.

which is no different than being afro-american.

In most cases, their families have been in the United States just about as long as ours have…

the real difference is that we legislated against their assimilation until a generation or so ago…

in fact, in many places we legislated against their traditions.. and languages… and…

yes, most afro-americans are now christian or muslim.. the saving grace of most religions is that they are equal opportunity when it comes to embracing and assimilating other cultures…. that’s a good thing.. or a bad thing.. depending upon your viewpoint.

there are ethnic celebrations of all flavors celebrated in the united states.. including Cinco De Mayo and Chinese new year and … which seem to pass conveniently under your radar…

why get your panties in a bunch because some of us want to celebrate their African heritage?

You got your invitation to the party…

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[TheHouse]

JoB, if you actually understood race you would understand how offensive referring to a black person as “Afro-Amercian” really was.

But you don’t.

And you still haven’t named another holiday that celebrates another race. There is a difference between celebrations that come from other countries and celebrating a race.

Research the two celebrations you just mentioned. You’ll learn alot, including how they don’t celebrate a race.

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[Cait]

House you still haven’t acknowledged that Kwanzaa doesn’t celebrate a race.

I wasn’t surprised to see so many replies to this post. And I knew it would probably be a bunch of “white people” feeling alienated. Thanks for keeping it predictable, West Seattle.

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[Author]

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