Q. HABARI GANI? (What’s the news?)
A. IT’S KWANZAA TIME!!!
Q. KWANZAA YENU IWE NA HERI (Have a happy and fruitful Kwanzaa)
A. HERI!!! (Happiness)
TAMSHI LA TAMBIKO (The libation statement)
TAMISHI LA TUTAONANA (The Farewell Statement)
HARAMBEE! (Let us all pull together)
Tonight we offer a practical session on not only why but how we should celebrate Kwanzaa. This may serve as a welcome introduction to newcomers as well as a timely re-affirmation to experienced celebrants.
Observed from December 26th to January 1st every year, Kwanzaa is one of the lasting legacies of the revolutionary 60s, forged in the heat of Black Power era 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)
The Nguzo Saba, as defined by Dr Karenga 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. (2)
The show will be a step-by-step guide exploring the roots of the celebration, the context in which it came into being, the language, symbols, customs, practices, activities necessary to observe Kwanzaa in the home and in the community. Of its longevity, founder asserts:
“Surely, Kwanzaa would not have lasted if it had simply been a seasonal trend, a consumerist fad or the purchasable product of a corporate-cultivated consciousness. More-over, its resilience and relevance, like its origins and future, do not lie in official approval, presidential greetings or govern-mental recognition and endorsement by resolution on any level… Rather Kwanzaa was conceived, created and introduced to the African community as an audacious act of self-determination, a cultural creation that is rooted in and rose out of the wish and will of a people who saw its message deep in meaning, world-encompassing in reach, highly relevant in addressing critical issues of our time and the practice of its principles, as a valuable way to ground, guide and enrich their lives.” (3)
(1) Maulana Karenga (1982) Introduction To Black Studies. Kawaida Publications. p. 133
(2) Melanie McFarland (25/12/92) Kwanzaa Is A Time Of Reflection. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1992-12-25-9204270266-story.html
(3) Dr. Maulana Karenga (24/12/09) Principles And Practices Of Kwanzaa: Repairing And Renewing The World. http://www.us-organization.org/position/documents/PrinciplesandPracticesofKwanzaa.pdf.
COMMUNITY OBSERVANCES 2022
UJIMA – 28/12/22
Afruika Bantu Saturday School Community
Kwanzaas Celebration 4pm-8pm, St Martin’s Community Centre, Abbots Park, Upper Tulse Hill,SW2 3QB. Recommended donations on entry – £5 under 20 FREE. Info/stalls: 07903 012 757 / Email: Abssgb17@gmail.com
Harambee Organisation of Black Unity
Kwanzaa Workshop, 10am-4pm, Marcus Garvey Centre 97-99 Linwood Road Birmingham B21 9JH. £5.98. For more information and to book: https://OBUKwanzaa.eventbrite.co.uk.
Pan-African Congress Movement/African-Caribbean Self Help Organization
Kwanzaa Celebration, 6pm-10pm, Upstairs Auditorium Legacy Centre of Excellence, 144 Potters Lane, Birmingham, B6 4UU. FREE (contributions welcome). Info: 07939 241 650.
NIA – 30/12/22
John Lynch Afrikan Education Project
Kwanzaa Celebration, 2pm-8pm, Malcolm X Centre
we ask the question:
KWANZAA: Why should we celebrate?
1) Will you be celebrating in the home, community, both, neither?
2) How did you find out about Kwanzaa?
3) Why has it been able to survive and grow unlike so much else from that era?
4) How can Kwanzaa be used to aid our community development?
Our very special guests:
Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka: Resident guest who is Spiritual Leader of the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement and an Afrikan-Centered Education Consultant. Bro. Ldr is a veteran activist of nearly 40 years standing, a featured columnist in The Whirlwind newspaper and author of Mosiah Daily Affirmations and Education: An African-Centred Approach To Excellence.
Sis. Kai Ouagadou-Mbandaka: is part of the leadership of the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement’s and is Chief Officer of its Education and Health & Social Welfare Departments. She Head Teacher for the Alkebu-Lan Academy of Excellence Saturday School, and Co-ordinator for the Ma’at Academy of Excellence Home School Collective. She is also head of ARM’s Rites of Passage Programme for Girls and a Columnist for The Whirlwind Newspaper. Sis. Kai is one of the original co-hosts of Afrika Speaks with Alkebu-Lan when it first launched in 2006.