Although the Kwanzaa hasn't caught on quite as well as Christmas has, the holiday begins today -- the day after Christmas -- and continues though the end of the year. It has been around since Dr. Maulana Karenga invented it as a way for African Americans to coalesce and celebrate certain cultural values.
Those values are expressed in Seven Principles, as follows:
Unity -- To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race.
Self determination -- To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves.
Collective work and responsibility -- To build and maintain our community together and make our brother's and sister's problems our problems and to solve them together.
Cooperative Economics -- To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together.
Purpose -- To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
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.
Faith -- To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.
If some of the phrases, "victory of our struggle," and "profit from them together" have a 60s ring to them, they should. Dr. Karenga invented the holiday in the 60s when revolution and collectivism were all the rage. One has to wonder if Kwanzaa might make a comeback with "share the wealth" and "pay their fair share" thrown in for good measure.
Wikipedia contends that Dr. Karenga originally intended it as an alternative to Christmas for African Americans, but his FAQ says otherwise and that celebrating Kwanzaa is a cultural, not a religious choice.
And under certain specified circumstances, non-African Americans can celebrate it too. Those circumstances are not currently present, but what the heck. Racial exclusion shouldn't ruin an opportunity to celebrate. Happy Kwanzaa, everyone!
Update: Here's a notable celebrant -- President Barack H. Obama.
Insightful blog.
Posted by: ck | December 28, 2011 at 08:07 AM