Families across the Afrikan world will be finalising their preparations for the upcoming Kwanzaa observances which officially begin on the 26th of this month. To assist with raising the seasonal vibrations, members of the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement and their children will be in the Galaxy Studio to ‘Kwanzaa-ize’ the place through word sounds, chants and songs as well as affirmations of the meaning and importance of Kwanzaa to them.
To those that remain sceptical, it is the case that Kwanzaa, since its inception in 1966 has developed a body of features that authenticate it, arguably to a greater extent that some holidays that many more people celebrate with an almost delirious fervour. (1) Kwanzaa harmonizes with nature by being grounded in Ancestral harvest festival celebrations – which are then used as a metaphor to cultivating our achievements, including our children. (2)
But more than just including our children, they are central to Kwanzaa, as the founder Dr Maulana Karenga explains:
“Kwanzaa is a holiday with meaning and roles for all ages, especially children. Whatever the level of comprehension and capacity for participation, children must be allowed and encouraged to participate in Kwanzaa as fully as they are able. To reduce the children to mere recipients of gifts is to duplicate one of the most negative aspects of some Christmas celebrations. Kwanzaa, by its very purpose and principles, requires the full active participation of children. The principles are especially for them, for they are our future. Therefore, unless they learn and absorb these principles, the hope we have is futile or at best, on a shaky foundation.
Children participate in various ways. First, they should and can learn to receite and explain the Principles each day at meal times or in a special setting for it. Secondly, they can light the mishumaa for each day and explain each principle. Thirdly, children can help make Kwanzaa cards and other items, and they can also help make Kwanzaa decorations. This assistance would, in fact, be practice and encouragement of the sixth principle, Kuumba. Children are very creative at early ages and should be encouraged to maintain and develop such a capacity and interest. And Kwanzaa provides an ideal instructive and inspirational context for this.
Forthly, children can help prepare special foods and the setting for Kwanzaa meals. They need not be given the responsibility for an entire meal, but they should be given a small but meaningful project which would enhance the meaning and enjoyment of Kwanzaa for them, finally, children can and should be encouraged to make dramatic, musical and dance presentations in celebration of Kwanzaa at home, school or in the context of their organisation. These are just a few main ways children can and should be encouraged to participate. There are countless others ands with a little Kuumba adults can discover and encourage them.” (3)
So Dr Karenga indicates that ways need to be found to ensure that children are indeed central to the observance. The late, mighty warrior scholar Amos Wilson affirms, values, culture, consciousness and personality are types of power. Therefore, cultural products such as music have power but can only work in our collective interest if they are founded on Afrikan history, culture and values, developed around an Afrikan sense of nationhood. He argues that culture implants itself into the spirits of its members through primordial ways using vehicles like music, rhythm, song and dance to enhance synchrony. This one of the most potent ways to inculcate cultural values is through entertainment. (4)
Music has certainly been used over the years as a vehicle to highlight Kwanzaa, the Nguzo Saba (seven principles) and also the Kawaida philosophy out of which it comes. (5) One of the early examples was the 1970 jazz LP by Toudie Heath-Kuumba called Kawaida. The Jazz-funk group Karma included the instrumental track Kwanzaa on their Celebration album, released in 1976. Renowned vocal group Sweet Honey In The Rock contributed the acapella Seven Principles from their 1978 set B’lieve I’ll Run On…. See What The End’s Gonna Be. But it was in the 1990s that a proliferation of Kwanzaa related music occurred, spearheaded by what many consider to be the gold standard of Kwanzaa records, Seven Principles by Roy Ayers Ubiquity alumnus Steve Cobb and singer Chavanduka, that came out late 1993. Another notable release in the same year was Sound Sages’ The Gift of Kwanzaa, notable for its detailed recitations of the Nguzo Saba, Tamshi La Tambiko (Kwanzaa libation statement), Tamshi La Tutuonana (Kwanzaa farewell statement) as well as other Kwanzaa procedures and processes. Percussionist Bill Summers released his The Essence Of Kwanzaa set in 1997 and sekou tha misfit put out the hip-hop themed Seven – A Kwanzaa Soundtrack at the close of the decade.
The 1990s also gave us Kwanzaa tracks by Soul crooner Teddy Pendergrass (Happy Kwanzaa), gospel collective Sounds Of Blackness (Harambee) and Blue Salim (Celebrate Kwanzaa EP), followed in the succeeding decade by the likes of Georgia Anne Muldrow (Kwanzaa Song). At the turn of the millennium Pan-African DJ Lujinton gave us one of the earliest recorded Kwanzaa songs in the UK in Kwanzaa Song from his First Fruits CD and in 2008, Othieno produced what is regarded by many as the reigning UK Kwanzaa anthem, Matunda Ya Kwanzaa. The way remains open for new, creative, genre crossing musical Kwanzaa creations.
Although not yet recorded, Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka, Spiritual Leader of the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement has been composing Kwanzaa songs for decades and has a LP’s worth of compositions. Bro. Ldr uses the songs to familiarise us with Kwanzaa principles, greetings and phrases such as “Kwanzaa Yenu Iwe Na Heri” (have a happy and fruitful Kwanzaa):
“Kwanzaa yenu iwe na heri Heri! Heri!
Kwanzaa yenu iwe na heri Heri! Heri!
Kwanzaa yenu iwe na heri Heri! Heri!
Kwanzaa yenu iwe na heri Heri! Heri!
Paanap, paanap, paanap, Paanap, paanap. (mimicking horn sounds)
Paanap, paanap, paanap, Paanap, paanap.
I bid you, I bid you, All a Kwanzaa greeting,
In the spirit of love, Unity and happiness
I hope your spirit high And you feeling ire,
Hope you feeling in the mood Fa disya Kwanzaa season.
Kwanzaa yenu iwe na heri Heri! Heri!
Kwanzaa yenu iwe na heri Heri! Heri!
Kwanzaa yenu iwe na heri Heri! Heri!
Kwanzaa yenu iwe na heri Heri! Heri!..”
And the linking the main Kwanzaa greeting, Habari Gani? (what’s the news/principle of the day?) with the Nguzo Saba:
“Harbari Gani: A wha da gwaan sa? Harbari Gani: A wha da gwaan sa?
Tell me wha da gwaan, pan dis day a Kwanzaa?
Tell me wha da gwaan, pan dis day a Kwanzaa?
Harbari Gani: A wha da gwaan sa? Harbari Gani: A wha da gwaan sa?
Tell me wha da gwaan, pan day-1 a Kwanzaa?
Tell me wha da gwaan, pan day-1 a Kwanzaa?
Harbari Gani? Umoja
Harbari Gani? Umoja
A dat a gwaan, pan day-1 a Kwanzaa
Yes, a dat a gwaan, pan day-1 a Kwanzaa…”
There are fewer films about Kwanzaa but an early effort was The celebration of Kwanzaa : echoes of Africa from 1996, narrated by actor Dorien Harewood. To date though, the most popular Kwanzaa film is MK Asante Jr’s The Black Candle from 2008, narrated by Maya Angelou and featuring contributions from Maulana Karenga, Molefi Asante, Jawanza Kunjufu, Chuck D, Dead Prez and Ursula Rucker. Elsewhere in the creative arts we can point to Pulitzer Prize winning playwright August Wilson (whose play Fences was made into a 2016 film by Denzel Washington), who “situates himself in the cultural nationalist aesthetics tradition, citing the Kawaida definition of Black Power.” (6)
To share knowledge about Kwanzaa to young people it is necessary to be equipped with the correct information about. The most obvious source is online, even though accuracy can vary widely. Amazon, for example, lists over 800 titles on Kwanzaa (although every effort should be made to purchase Kwanzaa books and items from Kulcha shops), including: Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community & Culture and The African American Holiday of Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community & Culture, both by Maulana Karenga; Kwanzaa: A Progressive and Uplifting African American Holiday by Haki R. Madhubuti, and Kwanzaa: Everything You Always Wanted To Know But Didn’t Know Where To Ask by Cedric McClester.
So to echo the exhortation of Kwanzaa founder Dr Maulana Karenga, the community will have employ Kuumba to inculcate the values of Kwanzaa, which in essence are the values of nation building as unity, Self-Determination, Collective Work and Responsibility, Cooperative Economics, Purpose, Kuumba and Faith are the building blocks of nationhood.
However, another necessary aspect of informing ourselves about Kwanzaa is being aware of the propaganda against it. Of this film maker ‘Alik Shahadah has a fitting riposte:
“Of all the criticism detractors launch at Kwanzaa, it is amazing none of them have a leg to stand on. Most critique is Ad Hominem (against Karenga). But Karenga is not Kwanzaa, when Karenga is dead and gone, the virtues of Kwanzaa will not depend on his personality. The term “Created” is used to detract from its authenticity. But every culture creates, Kwanzaa is just a modern creation. Holidays are created in Africa all the time, like “Africa day”, and “Reconciliation Day” for all kinds of questionable unproductive reasons.” (7)
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Kwanzaa Celebrations UK 2019
Umoja – Thursday 26th December 2019
PACM
4pm-10pm
African Caribbean Cultural Centre
9 Clarendon Road
London N8 0dj
Info: 07415 482 167 / 07956 052 821
Kujichagulia – Friday 27th December 2019
Kwanzaa @ The Classic
5pm-10pm
The Classic
28 Upper Tooting Road
London SW17 7PG
Info: 0800 368 8824 / 07904 761 328
PACM
5.30pm-10.30pm
African Caribbean Centre
Maidstone Road
Leicester, LE2 QUA
Info: 07827 317 952
Ujima – Saturday 28th December 2019
John Lynch Afrikan Edication Programme
2pm-10pm
Malcolm X Community Centre
141 City Road
Bristol BS2 8YH
Info: 07767 763 630 / 0117 955 4497
Ujamaa – Sunday 29th December 2019
Kwanzaa @ The Classic
4pm-9pm
The Classic
28 Upper Tooting Road
London SW17 7PG
Info: 0800 368 8824 / 07904 761 328
PACM
5pm-12am
Legacy Centre of Excellence
144 Potters Lane
Birmingham B6 4UU
Info: 0121 554 2747 / 07940 709 311
Nia – Monday 30th December 2019
PACM
6pm-‘Till Late
In memory of Teny Lewis
Hyson Green Youth Club
Terrace Street
Nottingham NG7 6ER
Info: 07549 825 971
Kuumba – Tuesday 31st January 2020
Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement Karamu
6pm – till a’ marnin
Mama Afrka Kulcha Shap
282 High Road Leyton
London E10 5PW
Info: 07908 814 152
Imani – Wednesday 1st January 2020
PACM
5pm-10pm
West Indian Centre
Carmoor Road
Manchester M13 0FB
Info: 07841 467 027 / 07908 820 918
(1) For example, Ishakamusa Barashango (1980) Afrikan People and European Holidays: A Mental Genocide. Barashango and Associates. p. 76 states: “Christmas, historically has no real religious significance to the European world, as such it has no real meaning to us as a people for it does not culturally project us in a positive light. Therefore nits failure to meet this need means that it can only be working against our best interest. Understanding that there are still some immature members of our race who feel they couldn’t live without Christmas, we appeal to them to stop the wild spending and acting so foolishly during the Christmas season and divest themselves of this mania. The supposed happiness obtained from the MERRY Mess is too brief to pay such a physical, mental, spiritual and economic price for.”
(2) Dr Maulana Karenga (2002) Kwanzaa :A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture. University of Sankore Press. p. 17-8
(3) Karenga. p. 108-9.
(4) Amos Wilson (19/12/17) Blueprint For Black Power. TransAtlantic Productions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBryieHyFeI
(5) 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/
(6) Dr. Maulana Karenga (2006) Us, Kawaida and the Black Liberation Movement in the 1960s: Culture, Knowledge and Struggle. p. 112 in James L. Conyers (Ed) Engines of the Black Power Movement: Essays on the Influence of Civil Rights Actions, Arts, and Islam. McFarland and Conpany Inc.
(7) Alik Shahadah (27/12/12) Why Kwanzaa The Pan-African Diaspora. https://africanholocaust.net/why-kwanzaa/
We ask the question:
How do we make Kwanzaa relevant to young people?
1) Which Kwanzaa events will you be attending this season?
2) Do we need new Kwanzaa songs, films, etc?
3) How can we encourage our creative artists to feature Kwanzaa in their works?
4) What is behind the criticisms of Kwanzaa?
Our 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 renowned Afrikan-Centered Education Consultant and educator and is a veteran activist of over 30 years standing. He is a featured columnist in The Whirlwind newspaper and author of Mosiah Daily Affirmations and Education: An African-Centred Approach To Excellence.
Members and children of of the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement