Kwanzaa is wack; there I said it.

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Siebra Muhammad A Registration Clerk/Specialist at New Orleans Public Schools Buenos Dias Hermana Marta! The only thing I would say on this, is that no one has ever been led to believe that Kwanzaa was from Africa or an African tradition. I always understood it to be an alternative for Black Peoples of America, as an alternative to Christmas; the object materialism/getting into debt, white Santa Claus, Santa Claus period, drunkeness / debauchery and overall, mischief-making. I find all of the opposition to Kwanzaa on philosophical basis, given the justifications here on HBCU Connect and other syndicated sites, for some sort of observing Christmas, when we know that there's nothing "Christ" about it. Furthermore, detractors to Kwanzaa feign opposition to it, among other reasons, because it is not from Africa (as if that ever mattered in the first place). It's difficult to dispute the dubious history of Maluana Karenga. I mean, damn, if he was all that many claimed him to be, it's mind-boggling that anyone would even invite him to speak at Kwanzaa events, much less participate in a celebration he founded. Personally, I don't celebrate Kwanzaa, even though I will attend public events along that line. And I have absolutely no problem with identifying with the 7 Principles of Blackness (more recently, watered-down to the 7 Principles). And if you ask me, one can celebrate Kwanzaa, using the same reason they do so, in embracing and "celebrating" Christmas; visiting and spending time with family, understanding that more than likely, more of us have family members who will deal with Christmas, only, with only a select few, rejecting this for Kwanzaa. After all, I think even one's own parents would understand the principled stand they might take by not visiting them on that day, if he/she has been a dutiful child to them, for the other 364 or 365 days of the year. So we should stop acting as if on that one day, your decision to stay home makes you something other than that! (I know that some of you here who are reading this, just can't wait to dismiss Muslims who choose not to visit on Christmas day as "extreme" and "backwards Moozlims" (Yup, I went there, LOL). Then again, one could look at this from the standpoint that since to them, it's just another day, a visit on "Christmas" isn't a big deal, anyway. To perhaps gain a better understanding as to why Kwanzaa is preferable to Christmas, we should read the book "Afrikan People and European Holidays" by the late, Dr. Ishakamusa Barashango (very gifted brother in my opinion). The book is a timeless classic, and as we witness the madness that continues, these descriptions are only underscored, tenfold. Peace! Thursday, January 5th 2012 at 2:39PM

Siebra Muhammad A Registration Clerk/Specialist at New Orleans Public Schools HOLIDAY TRADITIONS OF THE OPPRESSOR Ishakamusa Barashango, Ph.D., a Black liberationist and lecturer taught that holidays are merely mechanisms established by people of European descent to continue to oppress and suppress Black people and deify themselves. “We are so compelled by the conditions in the environment (in which) we are living to look at things in a fantasy manner rather from the viewpoint of reality. We are still being subject to a European worldview,” the teacher and former pastor said at a 1990s lecture about European holidays and Black mental genocide. He further explained that due to the whitewashing of African culture in America, the African perspective of life and happiness and celebrations has been distorted, perverted, and converted to a European worldview. “Holidays are the institutionalized celebration of the thoughts and ideas of a particular philosophical worldview … The celebration of holidays helps to establish and maintain strong emotional and cultural bonds between you and that which you are celebrating. When we celebrate European holidays, what are we binding ourselves to?” Barashango asked. We just celebrated Thanksgiving, or in the eyes of some liberationists like Barashango, Native American genocide. Several other American holidays like Halloween, Columbus Day, and Christmas come from European philosophies, pagan religious practices and celebrations of White’s victory over their enemies. Our African ancestors did celebrate many things like the harvest and victory, but Barashango emphasized in his lecture that we have never celebrated the victory of our enemies over us as we do today in America. “Thanksgiving Day literally is a holiday celebrating the beginnings of the almost total extermination of an entire race of people, commonly called ‘Indians’, and the enslavement, continued oppression and genocide of the African, by European settlers … For over 100 years now. Black folks in the United States have joined with the descendants of the same European murder[er]s who enslaved them and systematically all but destroyed the Amer-Indian, in feasting and giving thanks to God for the (opportunity) to live in one of the most racist, imperialist, and oppressive countries on earth .... Black People celebrating Thanksgiving Day is like the Americans celebrating the bombing of Pearl Harbor, or the so-called Jews celebrating the rise of the Third Reich, or the Palestinians celebrating the intrusion of the settler colony of Zionist Israel, or moreover the millions of Zulu descendants who are being murdered by the thousands each day, celebrating the establishment of the Union of South Africa ...” Frederick Douglass wrote in “Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave,” that during chattel slavery, enslaved Blacks were not obligated to work from Christmas to the New Year. He wrote that it was unfavorable for Blacks to work and they were encouraged to indulge in drunkenness and merriment. “From what I know of the effect of these holidays upon the slave, I believe them to be among the most effective means in the hands of the slaveholder in keeping down the spirit of insurrection,” Douglass wrote. He added that, if enslaved Africans had been given the freedom to work, focus, and reject the spirit of the holidays, they would eventually rebel. The spirit of the holidays seems to invoke cheer and help people forget the bad in their lives. And in some opinions, the holidays are also time, when the oppressor reminds the world of his victories in a subtle, festive way. Barashango and Douglass remind Black Americans, however, that many of the holidays we have adopted and have become attached to may simply be distractions weakening the spirit of Black freedom. As implied by Black liberationists and leaders, spiritual elevation may not always involve Bible readings and a preacher. Sometimes it means recognizing our environmental truths and making strides to renew our original Black mind. Thursday, January 12th 2012 at 12:44PM

ROBINSON IRMA UC, Davis class of 1992 The corn being out of place really got to me in the sense...the people of our Mother land never traveled our side of 'African and no one traveled to the Mother land?This may make prefect sense to you but Blacks had explored in both Americas long before Columbus 'discovered America' . (smile) Thursday, April 10th 2014 at 6:47PM

ROBINSON IRMA UC, Davis class of 1992 My grandmother use to celebrate someting she called Old Christmas...then when Kwanzaa came along there were parts of what my grandmother did in it...a few days ago I heard someting about an old original celebration the was doene in Egypt in ancient times...I have made plans to try and find out more about this also...I am hooping it all ties in togather some how and we have ended up with pieces lost here and there and maybe we can find the whole of this part of our past. At. least for me it will be fun and will help maybe my being able to end this years and years puzzle...I should have paid more attention back then. (smile) Thursday, April 10th 2014 at 6:47PM

ROBINSON IRMA UC, Davis class of 1992 @sIEBRA HOW ABOUT A LITTLE MORE OF WHAT THIS BOOK IS ABOUT...like how some of these celebrations came about in different places.I love reading about things like that so please let me know. (smile) Thursday, April 10th 2014 at 6:47PM

Gregory V. Boulware, Esq. Assistant Managing Director at Managing Director's Office, City of Philadelphia /* I'm a bit late on this topic My Friends... Sorry. It's interesting that 'Kwanza' is mentioned since I've just put down a book I was reading on it. It's very interesting to know that a 'Snitch' wrote and invented something that could have been beneficial. Too bad... I've never been much of a follower of anything non-the-less a 'cultish' Johnnie-come-lately, fly-by-night gathering of sorts. Really good post Beautiful Sister. Peace and Love, Greg. */ Tuesday, October 28th 2014 at 7:36PM

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