The Kwanzaa season is well and truly upon us with pre-observance events like Wakwanzaa and the Alkebu-Lan Academy of Excellence pre-Kwanzaa children’s party now under our belts.
For the uninitiated, Kwanzaa is a seven-day celebration of family, community and culture, forged in the heat of the revolutionary 60s based on ancient Afrikan roots created by Dr Maulana Karenga, leader of the US organisation. (1) Indeed, Kwanzaa is one of the (relatively few) enduring legacies of an era that promised so much that has grown to have millions of celebrants around the Afrikan world. (2)
Of course Kwanzaa is not without its critics and the twelfth month of the year tends to bring them out in droves ranging from the self-serving attacks from (mainly right-wing) Europeans (3) to the ‘anti-Hotep’ type broadsides from within. (4) There are other critiques, however, that go to the heart of the Black Power movement in the USA, the chaos fomented by the antagonisitc government agencies (against its ongoing legacy). (5)
What critics in the main fail to do is quantify how application of the Nguzo Saba (seven principles – the foundation of Kwanzaa) is “counter-revolutionary,” or even a government creation as some claim). (6) To remind ourselves, Nguzo Saba are:
Umoja (Unity) – To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race.
Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) – To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves instead of being defined, named, created and spoken for by others.
Ujima (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.
Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics) – To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together.
Nia (Purpose) – To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
Kuumba (Creativity) – To do always as much as we can, in the best way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
Imani (Faith) – To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle. (7)
The underpinning philosophy our of which the Nguzo Saba and indeed Kwanzaa come is called Kawaida, which Dr Karenga describes as “a philosophy of life, love and struggle. Indeed, it is an ongoing synthesis of the best of African thought and practice in constant exchange with the world.” (8) Kawaida, Dr Karenga notes:
“Kawaida concerns itself with every area and aspect of life, especially questions of life in the seven fundamental areas of culture: history, religion (spirituality and ethics); social organization; political organization; economic organization; creative production; and ethos (the collective self-consciousness developed as a people as a result of thought and practice in the other areas of culture).” (9)
Kwanzaa was developed fifty-three years ago by Dr Karenga in response to “the key crisis in Black life,” namely “the cultural crisis.” (10) Almost a half a century later he identified the crisis as a symptom of the USA as a whole:
“It is in this larger context of the crisis of American society in which the crisis of the Black community is located and from which it must be liberated. By crisis I mean conditions of both danger and possibility, of the vulnerability to oppression and an incentive for resistance. It is a critical moment, a decisive turning point at which things could go either up or down, continue forward toward liberation or collapse into internal division and weakening, terrorized silence and a feverish and undignified seeking to maintain or acquire comfortable positions in oppression.” (11)
In light of this he asserts that Kawaidi has and will continue to provide the correct theoretical and practical bases:
“Grounded and forged in the ideological and practical struggles of the 60’s, Kawaida has consistently argued that for our or any people to be itself and free itself, it must be self-conscious, self-determined and rooted in its own culture. Kawaida continues to maintain that the struggle we must wage is a dual one of cultural revolution within and political revolution without, resulting in the radical transformation of ourselves, society and ultimately the world.” (12)
Elements of the crisis that Dr Karenga referred to arguably exist here in the UK. Now, in the aftermath of Boris Johnson’s right-wing Conservative Party’s landslide victory in the general election, many feel that it’s going to get worse, “dangerous” in some people’s eyes. (13)
The fear is that the lingering effects of the “hostile environment” that, for example, saw so-called “Windrush” victim Hubert Howard die three weeks after being granted British citizenship without compensation or apology, it likely to get worse. (14)
But before physical death comes social and civil death. These conditions are explained by Twilight Bey of Social Solutions Institute:
“Social death is the condition of people not accepted as fully human by the wider society of their state. Used by sociologists and historians to describe the role of government and social segregation processes. Examples of social death are racial and gender inequalities, harassment and subjugation. Civil death is the loss of all or almost all civil rights by a person due to a conviction for a crime or due to an act by the government of a country that results in the loss of civil rights. It is usually inflicted on persons convicted of crimes or adults determined by a court to be legally incompetent because of mental disability.” (15)
The upshot being that Afrikans cannot rely on external agencies for survival thus Bro. Twilight advocates the Nguzo Saba as a basis for community organizing as it locates us firmly within our own cultural matrix. Emphasising the primacy of culture he explains that it is the vehicle that transports ideas, traditions, norms and principles. Moreover:
“Culture protects the people from genocide
Culture is the people’s primary source of education
Culture defines the relationships e.g., partner, faith
Culture is your way of life, your-well-being
Culture informs your political and economic practice
Culture defines your opponents and allies
Culture is tied to everything.” (16)
Crucially, this is how culture operates for all people therefore if one operates outside their own cultural matrix, these will still apply – but for the benefit of those in whose culture we adopt. As means to ground ourselves properly Bro. Twilight advises the ‘Sankofa Ritual,” developed by Mama Marimba Ani. This entails using the concept of Sankofa (“go back and fetch it”) to move from Maafa (great disaster) where we are now back to Ma’at (Truth, Justice, Balance, Order, Righteousness, Harmony, and Reciprocity.), where we need to be. (17)
However, Dr. Karenga observes that to achieve this requires a steadfastness to the cause that not all are able to maintain:
“Furthermore, the crisis happens in and is shaped by a context in which many of the veterans of the struggle are being lost thru natural aging and transition and thru unbelievable transformation which places them outside of the struggle or out of touch with the needs and aspirations of our people or even in conflict with their interests. Sometimes we cannot face the transitions or believe the transformations, i.e., that those who gave so much to the struggle have now abandoned it or turned down a road leading everywhere else except to the radical restructuring of society we’ve struggled and worked so hard for.” (18)
But Warrior Scholar Activist Mwalimu Bomani Baruti reaffirms that the values of Kwanzaa can indeed be the basis of our liberation orientation but we must be uncompromising in our commitment to it:
“It is time fr us to take a stand. It is time that we make our strongest statement about what Kwanzaa must mean to us if it is to serve us in our fight to be Afrikan. Our statement must clearly and uncompromisingly indicate how important this celebration is to those of us who want nothing less than to demonstrate the utmost respect for our Ancestors and uncontaminated Afrikan traditions by following their examples. With this choice comes the responsibility of serving Afrikan interests first. It requires that we stop celebrating Kwanzaa apologetically. This means we have to put an end to our elaborate, intellectualized shows to de-emphasize Kwanzaa’s vital significance to our ReAfrikanization. Sadly, we only put on this pretense so that others, who have never made us comfortable or who are only comfortable when their owners are comfortable, will not feel that what we create is in competition with their racist celebrations of white supremacy. We need explain our celebration to no one in order to rationalize its existence. Those in our community who do not want to celebrate anything Afrikan, except if it comes whitewashed through european approval, need not participate. That is their right and, in fact, their duty as willing slaves to european culture. But do not let the rhetoric that will attend our choice distract us. This stand is not divisive. It is logically grounded in the ourstorical understanding that those who do not embrace being Afrikan are determined to pull us toward their european center and away from all in us that is Afrikan. Whether we like it or not, we have to come to grips with the fact that our people’s mentacide is deep, deeper than most of us dare believe. Therefore, some Afrikans will never rise about their loathing self-hatred. Not surprisingly, now that Europeans have finally given their stamp of approval to our Kwanzaa celebration, we are witnessing what is to be expected of negroes and so many lost souls — a vigorous campaign to minimize Maulana Karenga’s warnings about assimilated Afrikans turning this sacred ritual into a vulgar, commercialized orgy in service to european capitalism (making it nothing more than an extension of the perverted and meaningless season of wasteful consumption already spanning from Thankstaking to Christmas). We see the anti-Afrikan intent of subintegrationists as they consciously ignore John Henrik Clarke’s ourstorically grounded cautions against us allowing others to sit at the table of yet another of our family activities. Accordingly, these culturally misoriented individuals pretend not to be aware of Amos N. Wilson’s wise observation that if another people, especially those whose ill-gotten privilege depends on your continued oppression by them, are also celebrating your efforts toward a self-defining empowerment, then what you are actually doing must, in some way, be furthering your oppression by them. Our stand to revitalize and ReAfrikanize Kwanzaa calls for us to individually and collectively set examples of humanistic perfection for each other. This initiative cannot be about us working to turn others into some perfect model that we follow. It must be about us being the best of our Ancestors and not cheap imitations of them and what they stood for. The Kwanzaa celebration was designed for us to take ample time to reflect on and reaffirm the traditions and way of our people in us. And it is the intensity of that reflection and reaffirmation which mark the significance of this season for us. For the principles upon which it is built are not to be limited to it and, therefore, easily diverted into another’s way by conspicuous consumption or misguided loyalties based on an undying love of whiteness and a childish but perfect forgiveness and forgetfulness. The spirit of Kwanzaa must be found living in our hearts and minds and must daily manifest itself in our devotion to each other forever”(7)
(1) Dr Maulana Karenga (21/12/17) Annual founder ’s Kwanzaa Message —2017 “Practicing The Principles Of Kwanzaa :
Repairing , Renewing And Remaking Our World .” http://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/documents/AnnualFoundersKwanzaaMessage–Dr.MaulanaKarenga2017.pdf
(2) Mary Ann French (30/12/95) The Kwanzaa Conundrum. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1995/12/30/the-kwanzaa-conundrum/3492b385-8abd-496f-9296-c33ee15fe25c/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.5e552c48565c
(3) Ann Coulter (27/12/17) Happy Kwanzaa! The holiday brought to you by the FBI .http://www.anncoulter.com/columns/2017-12-27.html
(4) NewsOne Staff (26/12/11) Kwanzaa Is Wack: There, I Said It. https://newsone.com/1729195/kwanzaa-is-wack-there-i-said-it/
(5) Mukasa Afrika Ma’at (02/01/12) Maulana Karenga’s Haunting Ghost. http://afrikan-resistance.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/maulana-karengas-haunting-ghost-by.html
(6) Coulter. Op. cit
(7) Dr. Maulana Karenga (2008) The Nguzo Saba (The Seven Principles). http://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/7principles.shtml.
(8) Dr. Maulana Karenga (28/07/15) Kawaida and the Current Crisis: A Philosophy of Life, Love and Struggle Part 1. https://ibw21.org/commentary/kawaida-and-the-current-crisis-a-philosophy-of-life-love-and-struggle/
(9) Dr. Maulana Karenga (08/11/18) Kawaida and the Current Crisis: A Philosophy of Life, Love and Struggle Part 2. https://lasentinel.net/kawaida-and-the-current-crisis-a-philosophy-of-life-love-and-struggle-4.html
(10) Dr. Ron Daniels (26/12/11) The Nguzo Saba and Kwanzaa in a Time of Crisis. https://ibw21.org/commentary/vantage-point-articles/the-nguzo-saba-and-kwanzaa-in-a-time-of-crisis/
(11). Maulana Karenga (28/07/15)
(12) Ibid.
(13) Nadine White (14/12/19) Black People React To Tories’ General Election Landslide: ‘Britain’s Future Looks Dangerous To Me’. https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/britains-future-looks-dangerous-to-me-south-london-reacts-to-conservatives-landslide-general-election-victory_uk_5df3899ae4b0ca713e5e0f33?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAHEDkCwGWpAba32wh-I0o8g4CZeBwgtl8m91YJ8z6x0ajve9Gigr7EpqFLD01lhuT8mleHeZoTr4_zjvbqQU_TAGtqbjJQIJEEMeh0DSEGGI51NxIGJSG3jwO8Hh8vDCbTkNk459G6r4EX0w-BTIAiFkGGCScvJEIS6bL6dF9Caq
(14) Amelia Gentleman (12/11/19) Windrush victim dies without compensation or apology. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/nov/12/windrush-victim-dies-without-compensation-or-apology; See also Melissa Chemam (11/12/19) The Home Office’s ‘advice sessions’ expose the sinister trickery of the hostile environment. https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:HmPHhnEc2UMJ:https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/immigration-migrants-refugees-home-office-hostile-environment-a9241246.html+&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk
(15) Twilight Bey (01/12/19) Kwanzaa – Brining family and community together. Message delivered at Alkebu-Lan Shumira
(16) Idib.
(17) Ibid.
(18) Maulana Karenga (28/07/15)
(19) Mwalimu Baruti (30/12/12) It is time for us to take a stand. https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=%22it%20is%20time%20for%20us%20to%20take%20a%20stand%22&epa=SEARCH_BOX
We ask the question:
Is Kwanzaa a political solution to the problems we face?
1) What crises do we currently face, will the recent election make them worse?
2) Are we currently operating within our own cultural matrix or somebody else’s?
3) What is a “Sankofa Ritual”?
4) In what practical ways can we apply the Nguzo Saba in our lives?
Our Special Guest:
Bro. Twilight Bey: Mr. Twilight Bey is the lead Social Intervention Specialist and co-founder of the London based The Social Solutions Institute for Research & Development (SSI). He grew up in the economically deprived, gang and drug affected communities of South Central Los Angeles for 26 years. He now has more than 18 years of experience in social literacy development, conflict mediation, gang intervention and community and civic organising.
The work he has undertaken spans a broad range of US and international communities and institutions. He contributes to local and international efforts in youth and community focused initiatives such as gang intervention, capacity building, service learning, mentoring, and community building and leadership development. Bro. Twilight was Bey was also a key figure in the initiation of the Peace Talks in 1988 between rival Los Angeles Street Gangs. This led to him becoming a key organiser of the Cease Fire Agreement between the Bloods & Crips of Watts, California in 1992.
Under the mentorship of Jim Brown, NFL Hall of Famer and All-Time All-Star, activist, movie star and founder and President of Amer-I-Can Inc., Twilight and the other founding members of Amer-I-Can were able to affect positive change throughout the County of Los Angeles in schools and neighbourhoods adversely affected by economic exclusion, poor academic achievement, gangs, drugs and violence. These efforts have since been successfully adapted in similar communities across the United States and several other countries.
His work and programmes have been described as practical, innovative and genuine by young people, parents, teacher, community and statutory agencies alike. He continues to travel to and from the United States and remains a key participant in the development of social intervention initiatives and services worldwide. He currently heads The Social Solutions Institute for Research & Development (SSI): an organisation that thinks globally and acts locally to bring about positive individual, family and community transformation.