The season of Kwanzaa, the seven-day Pan-Afrikan celebration of family, community and culture from 26th December to 1st January, is upon us again, seeking to put the constraints of lockdown and online events behind us. Kwanzaa was forged by Dr Maulana Karenga of the Us organisation in 1966 in the heat of the Black Power era in the USA to address the “key crisis in black life… the cultural crisis in views and especially, values” and is one of the lasting legacies from that time. (1)
Kwanzaa is rooted in Kawaida, the cultural nationalist theory advanced by Dr Karenga and organised around the Nguzo Saba, the seven (life) principles, namely: (2)
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. (3)
In his Founder’s Message last year Dr Karenga suggested that Kwanzaa is “a message and model for our time.”:
“Kwanzaa was conceived, created and developed, then, in the context of the organization Us and the Black Freedom Movement and was understood as part and parcel of a two-fold liberation struggle to be ourselves and free ourselves. As part of our liberation struggle to be ourselves and free ourselves, Kwanzaa was and remains an act of freedom, an act of reaffirmation and resistance, reaffirmation of ourselves and our right to be ourselves and free ourselves, and in resistance to European cultural hegemony and political domination.
It was and is a conscious and conscientious choice again to be our culturally-grounded selves, free ourselves from all forms of oppression and celebrate ourselves, and thus, reaffirm our unique and equally valid and valuable African cultural way of being human in the world.
Kwanzaa is a unique and special season and celebration of our beautiful, sacred and soulful selves as African people, grounded in and profoundly respectful of our culture. It is a unique and special pan-African time of remembrance, reflection, reaffirmation, and recommitment to the good, the right, and the possible.
Kwanzaa was and is also an instrument of freedom, a means of cultivating liberated and liberating consciousness, returning us to our history and culture, and building and strengthening our families and communities in culturally-grounded ways that are good and transformative and cause us to flourish and come into the fullness of ourselves as African persons and peoples. Indeed, it opens up horizons of sensitivities, thoughts, possibilities and practices essential to reimagining and successfully struggling to bring into being a new history, hope and world for African peoples and humankind as a whole.” (4)
KWANZAA UK EVENTS 2023
UMOJA (Unity) 26th Dec (1st day)
Pan-African Congress Movement (PACM)
& Community Kwanzaa
4pm to 8pm @ Tottenham Community Sports Centre,
701-703 High Road, London N17 8AD
Info/Stalls 07510 249 828 / 07495 954 297
panafricancongressmovement@gmail.com
Admission Free (Donations Welcome)
KUJICHAGULIA (Self-Determination) 27th Dec (2nd day)
John Lynch African Education Programme
2pm to 10pm @ Malcolm X Community Centre,
141 City Road, St Pauls, Bristol BS2 8YH
Info/Stalls 07546 449 589
Bring food and drink to share
Per Ankh Community Enterprise
3pm to 8pm @ Leeds Caribbean & African Centre CIC,
10 Laycock Place, Leeds, LS7 3JA
Info/Stalls 07400 908 633 / 07930 447 246
pastudygroup@yahoo.com
Adm: £5. Children Under 16 Free
PACM/African Caribbean Self-Help Organisation
7pm to 10.30pm @ Legacy Centre of Excellence,
144 Potters Lane, Birmingham, B6 4UU
Info/Stalls 07939 241 650
bikospirit@gmail.com
Adm: Free. Donations welcome
UJAMAA (Co-operative Economics) 29th Dec (4th day)
Rebirth Of The Griot
6pm-10pm, Tottenham Community Sports Centre, N17 8AD, Entry: Donation
PACM
7pm-10pm (Doors open 5pm) @ The Heritage Centre,
Clifford Street, Wolverhampton, WV6 0AA.
Info/stalls: 07546 952 955
Adm: Free. Donations welcome
NIA (Purpose) 30th Dec (5th day)
Afruika Bantu Saturday School, Alkebu-Lan Academy of Excellence, Campaign for Truth & Justice, 100 Black Men of London and Garvey Villaage
2pm to 8pm @ Harris Peckham Academy, 112 Peckham Road, London, SE15 5DZ
Adm: £8 (Until 26/12@Eventbrite) / More On The Door
IMANI (Faith) 1st Jan (7th day)
PACM & African Community
4pm-9pm, ACFCA, 74 Carmoor Road, Manchester, M13 0FB. Info: 07884 444 080. Stalls: 07481 146 027
Adm: Free. Donations welcome.
(1) Maulana Karenga (1982) Introduction To Black Studies. Kawaida Publications. p. 133
(2) Maulana Karenga (2002) Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture. University of Sankore Press. p. 3
(3) Melanie McFarland (25/12/92) Kwanzaa Is A Time Of Reflection. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1992-12-25-9204270266-story.html
(4) Maulana Karenga (22/12/22) Annual Founder’s Kwanzaa Message – Kwanzaa, Culture and the Practice of Freedom: A Message and Model for Our Times https://lasentinel.net/kwanzaa-culture-and-the-practice-of-freedom-a-message-and-model-for-our-times.html
So tonight we ask the question:
Kwanzaa: A tool for change or to remain the same ?
1) Will you be attending any Kwanzaa events this year?
2) What key changes do we need to see in our community?
3) How can Kwanzaa facilitate them?
4) In what ways is Kwanzaa a means of “cultivating liberated and liberating consciousness”?
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 over 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. Tumaini Joseph: is the Headteacher of ABSS and former pupil at the school and community activist. He is extremely passionate about helping our young people navigate the education system despite all the hurdles in their way.
Bro. Taharkah Teranga: is a researcher and a long standing active member of the Pan-African Congress Movement, one of the pioneer Black Nationalist organisations in the UK.
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