KWANZAA DECEMBER 26-2015 TO JANUARY 1-2016

 

 

Hosting a Kwanzaa celebration!

 

 

MURPHY BROWNE

 

It's beginning to look a lot like Kwanzaa! Yes African people (don't care where you come from) it is that time of year again! Time to polish the kinara (candle holder,) buy some red, black and green mishumaa (candles,) roll out the mkeka (mat,) and get ready to celebrate Kwanzaa! Remember to brush up on (practice) your Kiswahili (the most widely spoken African language and the language of Kwanzaa) pronunciation. It is the beginning of December so we have approximately three weeks before the one week (December 26-January 1) celebration of Kwanzaa starts.

In 2015 Kwanzaa celebrates 49 years of existence as it was celebrated for the first time in December 1966. Kwanzaa is a Pan-African celebration and includes the Pan-African colours (red, black and green) that were chosen by the Honourable Marcus Mosiah Garvey (considered the father of the modern Pan-African Movement) in 1920. The Pan-African flag is a tri-color flag consisting of three equal horizontal bands of (from top down) red, black and green. On August 13, 1920 in Article 39 of the Declaration of Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World, during its month-long convention at Madison Square Garden in New York City, the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) formally adopted the "red, black and green" flag. The African countries Ghana, Kenya and Malawi, on attaining independence from European colonization chose "red, black and green" as the colours of their national flags while some other African countries have incorporated the colours into the designs of their national flags.

As a Pan-African celebration Kwanzaa includes all Africans in celebrating culture and acknowledging history. Africans from the continent and of the Diaspora, of any religious or spiritual beliefs, or no religious belief, celebrate Kwanzaa. Kwanzaa is celebrated in some Christian churches with majority African American congregations because the nguzo saba (seven principles) resonate with African Americans. African American professor Dr. Maulana Ndabezitha Karenga who instituted the celebration of Kwanzaa has explained that: "Kwanzaa is a synthesis of both the cultural values and practice of Africans on the Continent and in the United States with strict attention to cultural authenticity and values for a meaningful, principled, and productive life.” Kwanzaa was established in the USA and very soon after was celebrated in Canada. It is said that Kwanzaa is also celebrated in Brazil, the Caribbean, Great Britain, France, Senegal and other West African countries. I celebrated Kwanzaa in Italy in 2007, in Guyana in 2011 and 2012. It is possible that Kwanzaa is celebrated in many places that have so far not been listed. In the 1997 published book “Kwanzaa, A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture" Dr. Karenga wrote: “Kwanzaa is celebrated by millions of people of African descent throughout the world African community. As a cultural holiday, it is practiced by Africans from all religious traditions, all classes, all ages and generations, and all political persuasions on the common ground of their Africanness in all its historical and current diversity and unity.”

Most Africans in the Diaspora do not speak an African language because during the four hundred years European enslavement of our ancestors, speaking an African language or retaining an African name was a possible death sentence. One of the most poignant and heartbreaking scenes from the miniseries “Roots” (based on Alex Haley’s 1976 published novel “Roots: The Saga of an American Family”) is the scene where enslaved African Kunta Kinte is almost beaten to death (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CpJpGF8lS8) because he resisted accepting the name “Toby.” One of the results of the brutality and inhumanity of slavery was the severing of the connection between Africans in the Diaspora and our Africanness. Learning even a few words of an African language can be empowering and celebrating Kwanzaa is an opportunity to do so.

Kiswahili words are used to identify the objects used during the Kwanzaa celebration as well as the seven principles (nguzo saba.) They are Umoja (Unity); Kujichagulia (Self-Determination); Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility); Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics); Nia (Purpose); Kuumba (Creativity) and Imani (Faith.) Dr. Karenga said of the nguzo saba: “They are all dedicated to honoring the teachings of our ancestors in the Odu Ifa, that the fundamental mission and meaning of human life is ‘to bring good into the world and not let any good be lost.’ Umoja is put first because without unity we cannot even seriously begin the project. And Imani is placed last because without faith we can't sustain it. But without practice of all the principles, we cannot really accomplish it.” The objects used to decorate the Kwanzaa table includes the mkeka (mat,) kinara (candle holder,) mishumaa saba (seven candles,) mazao (fruits and vegetables,) vibunzi/muhindi (ear of corn,) kikombe cha umoja (unity cup) and zawadi (gifts.) The kinara is placed on the mkeka and the mishumaa saba are placed in the kinara with the black in the middle, the three red to the left of the black and the three green to the right of the black. The black candle is lit on December 26 the first day of Kwanzaa, for Umoja, the red candle closest to the black is lit on December 27, for Kujichagulia, the green candle closest to the black candle is lit on December 28 for Ujima. The pattern of alternating red and green continues until January 1 when the last green candle is lit for Imani. The zawadi are Africentric and educational and may include handmade gifts or books about African history or culture.

Although Kwanzaa is celebrated for seven days there are many Kwanzaa celebrants who use the Nguzo Saba (seven principles) as guiding principles throughout the year. This is encouraged by Dr. Karenga who said: “It is important to note that the Nguzo Saba are used as value orientation and cultural grounding in a vast number of programs throughout the world African community. These range from independent schools, rites of passage programs, youth development and support programs, public school educational programs, and religious institutional cultural programs to various economic and political initiatives and structures. Thus, I'm confident that African people will continue to see their value, embrace their practice and pass on these values and the culture in which they are rooted as a legacy which expresses and encourages the best of what it means to be African and human in the fullest sense.”

In the 1997 published “Kwanzaa: The Emergence of an African American Holiday” African Puerto Rican professor Ysamur Flores Pena quoted Dr. Karenga on Kanzaaa: “It reaffirms our commitment to the African culture and gives us a time to come together, as was done by the ancestors of old. We measure ourselves, the authenticity of our lives, by how rooted we are in our tradition. Kwanzaa is a celebration of the good, celebration of the good of our lives, the good of our history, the good of our culture, celebration of the good of life, the good of love in each other, building with each other, the good of history marching towards the ultimate goal of full human freedom” 

The celebration of Kwanzaa began 49 years ago as an effort “to create, recreate and circulate African culture as an aid to building community, enriching Black consciousness, and reaffirming the value of cultural grounding for life and struggle.” The struggle continues as we see almost everyday another video of African American men, women and children brutalized and killed by police. In Canada the carding which targets an inordinate amount of African Canadians continues. Kwanzaa is one of times during the year when we can gather, exhale and reaffirm our humanity. Celebrate Kwanzaa December 26 to January 1. Heri za Kwanzaa!