Maulana Ron Karenga created the cultural celebration of Kwanzaa to rekindle the spirit of awareness of our African roots and to provide a value system to guide us in our interactions with one another. While some criticize Kwanzaa because it is not an authentic African holiday, we must remember there was a time when anything African was anathema to people of African descent due to the effective brainwashing our enemies used to induce wholesale self-hatred and self-negation in us. Today African people all over the world recognize and it some way or another celebrate Kwanzaa. .
Maulana Karenga in his book, Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture says on page six, ". Kwanzaa is a time of celebration of the good, the good of life, community, culture, friendship, the bountifulness of the earth, the wonder of the universe, the elders, the young, the human person in general, our history, our struggle for liberation and ever higher levels of human life. The celebration of Kwanzaa then is a ceremony of bonding, thanks-giving, commemoration, recommitment, a respectful marking, an honoring, a praising and a rejoicing." .
We have the power to celebrate the good in our lives. There is so much negativity in this culture with its blatant/ subtle anti-African orientation, messages and double bind relationship to us. The schizoid nature of our oppression impacts and affects us daily. Yet despite the omnipresent reality of racial animus and subordination, there is good in our lives; good relationships, positive and beneficial consequences when we actualize our potential, love our people and ourselves. Let us take time, not just between December 26 and January 1, but all year to celebrate the good in our lives and work to manifest more in our lives, homes and communities. .
We get so caught up in the materialism and consumerism promoted by this society, we forget about the wonder of the universe, the awesomeness of the CREATOR, our own inter-connectedness to the universe.
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