Celebrated from December 26th to January 1st every year, Kwanzaa is one of the lasting legacies of the 1960s Black Power era, created 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)
It was created amidst a war being waged on the Black Liberation Movement by the USA state that considered it “the greatest threat to the internal security of the country.” (2) Thus, the Nguzo Saba was an attempt to establish a shared communal value system around: Umoja (Unity); Kujichagulia (Self-Determination; Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility; Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics); Nia (Purpose); Kuumba (Creativity) and Imani (Faith). (3)
Five and more decades on, the war may have changed in scope but not in intent yet a coherent value system ostensibly eludes us. Whatever misgivings one may have about Kwanzaa, or its creator, we’d like to think that most of us would be in favour of Afrikans being unified, self-determining, etc. However, as we saw through the counter intelligence programme (COINTELPRO), there were those among us that had a vested interest in ensuring these values did not manifest. Therefore; in our continuing attempts to establish the communal value system we have to be vigilant against those modern-day proxies of COINTELPRO. (4)
(1) Maulana Karenga (1982) Introduction To Black Studies. Kawaida Publications. p. 133
(2) Jonathan David Farley (04/04/08) Preventing the rise of a ‘messiah’. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/apr/04/preventingtheriseofamessi. http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/message-to-grassroots/#doc-tabs-full
(3) Dr. Maulana Karenga (2008) The Nguzo Saba (The Seven Principles). http://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/7principles.shtml.
(4) Dia Kayyali (13/02/14) The History of Surveillance and the Black Community. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/02/history-surveillance-and-black-community
we ask the question:
Can we use Kwanzaa to defeat white supremacy?
1) Do we still have a “cultural crisis in views and …values”?
2) Who among us would be opposed to Afrikans being unified, self-determining, etc.?
3) What is topping us from doing it?
4) Do we continue to have ‘modern-day proxies of COINTELPRO’?
5) What other strategies are there for establishing a value system?
Our Special Guests:
Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka: Resident guest who is Spiritual Leader of the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement and an Afrikan-Centred Education Consultant. Bro. Ldr is a veteran activist of almost 40 years standing, a featured columnist in The Whirlwind newspaper and author of Mosiah Daily Affirmations and Education: An African-Centred Approach To Excellence.
Bro. Chukwueneka Quamina: was born on Liberation Road and initiated into manhood in the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement Rites of Passage programme. He is also the founder of Neeks Sports, a sports channel covering all sports stories and opinions, and more importantly, getting the reaction from the fans and public in general. Eneka is also sports editor of The Whirlwind newspaper.