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Kwanzaa is one of the lasting legacies of the 1960s Black Power era., forged in 1966 by the Us organization, under the leadership of Dr Maulana Karenga. Rooted in Kawaida theory and arranged around the Nguzo Saba (Seven Principles), Kwanzaa was created to address the ”key crisis in black life,” that Us contended was the ”cultural crisis in views and especially, values.” (1)
In spite of the undoubted success of Kwanzaa we are still arguably grappling with the culture crisis. For example, in the USA, in spite of a heinous legacy of official racial antipathy, Afrikans there are still struggling with notions to patriotism and allegiance to an antagonistic state. (2) On the motherland – Afrika, the sharpest decrease in adherents to traditional Afrikan religion came in the post “independent” period. (3) In the the UK, in the absence of establishing and maintaining a national representative body Afrikans continue to suffer at the hands of the state (4), including the persecution of young people in the schools. (5) This last aspect is critical as the capacity for any being to protect its young have a direct bearing on its capacity to survive, let alone prosper.
Perhaps this is why from the outset, children were emphasised as being central to Kwanzaa. As the creator of Kwanzaa Dr Maulana Karenga explains:
“Children are important within the Kwanzaa value framework, then, first of all because they are key to the physical survival of the community. But equally important. They are key to the cultural survival and development of the community. It is they like who, as Mary M Bethune taught, are the ‘heirs and custodians’ of our cultural legacy as a people. This dual function as heirs and custodians means that they not only inherit Afrikan culture – its narrative and achievements, its views and values – but must assume responsibility for it’s preservation and expression.” (6)
To explore ways to go about achieving this we first focus on the Mass Emphasis Children’s History and Theater Company based in Washington D.C. For the second consecutive year Mass Emphasis will be organizing a Global African Children’s Festival/Celebration. The idea being is for Afrikan organizations around the world to synchronize events that focus on uplifting children and young people. Executive Director, Obi Egbuna Jr, asserts that their goal is to:
“Institutionalize the event with the hope that it will be eventually recognized and celebrated on the exact scale that we as a people uphold African Liberation Day on May 25, both in Mother Africa and throughout the African Diaspora… highlighting the talents of numerous organized formations who invest their time, resources, and creative energy to empower and uplift Mother Africa’s children in 125 countries throughout the world.” (7) The theme for this year is “Preparing African Children to Understand, Embrace and Continue Our Liberation Struggle” and the event will be held on Saturday December 16th in Washington D.C.
In the UK, Alkebu-Lan feeds into this movement with it’s annual pre-Kwanzaa children’s party, also taking place on December 16th and is an engaging and exciting way to prepare children (and their parents) for Kwanzaa. The Alkebu-Lan Pre-Kwanzaa Children’s Party takes place at Chestnuts Community Centre, 280 St Ann’s Road, N15 5BN from 12 midday to 5pm.
The following day, December 17th, Medukation, the premier producer of Afrikan-Centred learning aids, most definitely in the spirit of the Global African Children’s Festival/Celebration, will bring together the children of Black Saturday Schools, Home Schoolers Groups & Independent full time Schools for a once in a life time showcase called Xcellence – ”An event to celebrate and elevate our children – and support the institutions developing them in the process!”
Xcellence will feature the Soul Force Panthers delivering their theatrical production the Chief and His Wise Wife; Afruika Bantu Saturday School bringing Black History to life with a stirring tribute to our liberation heroes and sheroes; prodigious MC Heru, the Alkebu-Lan Academy of Excellence and much, more. Xcellence takes place on Sunday 17th December from 5pm to 9pm at the Lost Theatre, 208 Wandsworth Road, London SW8 2JU. (http://www.medukation.com/xcellence/)
The most obvious challenge in “Preparing African Children to Understand, Embrace and Continue Our Liberation Struggle” is whether the adults have undertaken the necessary groundwork. Interestingly, Global African Children’s Festival/Celebration organiser Obi Egbuna Jr is the son of Obi Egbuna, the Godfather of Black Power in the UK (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSJLDLNXQjg). Similarly Xcellence host Basu ShakaRa is the son renowned activist Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka. In these instances we can see that concerted efforts have been made to ensure that that the children of activists continue the fight. However, it does seem that there are too few examples and one has to wonder what the impact will be if children guided to imbibe this positive, revolutionary even, orientation but then have nowhere to manifest it when they older if the adults have not created the context.
(1) Maulana Karenga (1982) Introduction To Black Studies. Kawaida Publications. p. 133
(2) Micah Johnson (30/06/17) Challenging conventional definitions of patriotism. http://www.gainesville.com/opinion/20170630/micah-johnson-challenging-conventional-definitions-of-patriotism
(3) Pew Research Center (15/04/10) Tolerance and Tension: Islam and Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa. http://www.pewforum.org/2010/04/15/executive-summary-islam-and-christianity-in-sub-saharan-africa/
(4) David Lammu (2017) The Lammy Review: An independent review into the treatment of, and outcomes for, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic
individuals in the Criminal Justice System. Ministry Of Justice. p.4
(5) Nadine White (22/09/17) Is Rastafari being persecuted? http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/rastafari-being-persecuted.
(6) Maulana Karenga (2002) Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family Community and Culture. University of Sankore Press. p. 77
(7) Obi Egbuna Jr (23/10/17) Global African Children’s Festival/Celebration
we ask the question:
What will our children inherit from us?
- Do we still have a culture crisis of views and values?
- If so what would be the best way to address it?
- By what means are preserving and expressing our culture to our chldren?
- Do we have any viable models of intergenerational liberation work?
Our very special guests:
Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka: Resident guest who is Spiritual Leader of the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement and UNIA-ACL Ambassador for the UK and national co-Chair of the interim National Afrikan People’s Parliament. Bro. Ldr is a veteran activist of over 30 years standing, a featured columnist in The Whirlwind newspaper and author of Mosiah Daily Affirmations and Education: An African-Centred Guide To Excellence.
Obi Egbuna Jr: is the son of Obi Egbuna and is the first U.S. Correspondent to The Herald, Zimbabwe’s national newspaper, and the first US correspondent in the country’s 32 years as an independent nation. Egbuna Jr was born in London and raised in Washington, DC. He received a degree in Political Science from the University of the District of Columbia in 1992.
He has dedicated his life to organizing in communities throughout the world. He is a founding member of the Pan-African Liberation Organization (PALO) and technical advisor for the Pan-African Student Youth Movement (PASYM). In addition to organizing and speaking engagements, Egbuna has published articles in the Final Call, the Chicago Standard, Rastafarian Today, the Hilltop at Howard University and the Spectrum at Bowie State University.
Egbuna has taught African History at Roots PCS since 1990 and has also taught at Ujamaa Shule and Northwestern High School in Prince George’s County. He is the current African History teacher for the Sankofa Homeschool Collective. In addition, Egbuna holds a community African History Class in NW DC. Mr. Egbuna is a founding member of Mass Emphasis Children’s History and Theater Company (2012). He is the Executive Director of Mass Emphasis for which he has written a number of plays. Obi Jr is the organizer of the Global African Children’s Festival/Celebration, taking place on Saturday December 9, 2017, under the theme “Preparing African Children to Understand, Embrace and Continue Our Liberation Struggle.”
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