Why we celebrate—or don't celebrate Kwanzaa: for many African-Americans, post-Christmas holiday is filled with joy, confusion and ambivalence

Ebony, Dec, 2007 by Shirley Henderson

KWANZAA, THE SEVEN-DAY AFROCENTRIC spiritual festival, turns 41 this month. Since its inception by founder Maulana Karenga in 1966, many faithful celebrants have lit the kinara while espousing the Nguzo saba (Seven principles) of Kwanzaa.

On the other side of the kente cloth is a decidedly anti-Kwanzaa group that does not participate in the celebration for reasons that range from unfavorable Karenga sentiment to the festival's growing commercialism.

And there are those who are ambivalent about Kwanzaa and still others who don't understand the holiday.

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Like many steadfast Kwanzaa celebrants, Soyini Walton recalls discovering herself culturally in the 1960s while she was in her 20s. "We were inspired to do that by the cry of Stokely Carmichael," recalls Walton, principal of Barbara Sizemore Academy in Chicago and one of the founders of the Institute for Positive Education. Both schools incorporate many of the principles of Kwanzaa into their curriculum. "Carmichael stood up, raised his fist and said, 'Black Power,' and that was kind of a cultural awakening ... People coming out of the Civil Rights Movement were very active, and they were frustrated just simply doing civil rights. They wanted to do something that was reflective of our background ... and our own power."

When Karenga created Kwanzaa, which is ripe with ceremony and culture--lighting candles, singing songs, reaffirming dedication to the seven principles with Swahili names and enjoying the karamu (feast)--many people embraced its doctrine. Initially Kwanzaa celebrations were held in private homes on each day of the festival to correspond with the seven principles: umoja (unity), kujichagulia (self-determination), ujima (collective work and responsibility), ujamaa (cooperative economics), nia (purpose), kuumba (creativity) and imani (faith). Today, in major cities across the country, Kwanzaa celebrations are held at such locations as colleges, convention halls and community centers.

Maitefa Angaza of Brooklyn loves the idea of the spiritual festival. A mother and grandmother, she has been actively celebrating Kwanzaa for three decades, and she decided to write a guide to help others embrace the festival. Kwanzaa: From Holiday to Everyday (Kensington Publishing Corp.) outlines how she and her family prepare for and celebrate the festival, which begins December 26 and ends on January 1.

"One thing that I've found personally gratifying because I've been celebrating Kwanzaa for 30 years," says Angaza, "is that my son, who turns 30, used to enjoy lighting the candles and putting a piece of fruit on the table. Now he's doing the same things with his child."

Despite its ceremonial aspects, Kwanzaa is considered to be a non-religious celebration. Still, there arc some, such as Carlotta Morrow, who believe that celebrating Kwanzaa encroaches upon religion by teaching people to live their lives according to certain doctrine.

Morrow, a San Diego-based writer, says that during the 1970s, her sister became involved with Organization US, started by Karenga. After taking a Swahili name, her sister denounced Christianity. Morrow and her family were alarmed, and she decided to attend one of the group's meetings. Not liking what she heard, she began researching the organization and its founder. Ten years ago, Morrow decided to warn others about what she perceived to be strong anti-Christian sentiments connected to Karenga's teachings. She put up an anti-Kwanzaa Web site called The Truth About Kwanzaa (www.christocentric.com/Kwanzaa/). "I put some excerpts from [Karenga's] books on my Web site so that people could see that he created Kwanzaa as an alternative to the Christmas season," says Morrow. (Karenga could not be reached for comment.)

She believes that Kwanzaa has spiritualized Black History, especially when its rituals are practiced inside churches. "When you use Black History to make changes socially, then it becomes a religion," Morrow insists. "In other words, we have all the principles that we need to become a better man, woman or child ha our Bible. We don't need anything else. It's blasphemy that people are mixing Biblical principles with Kwanzaa principles."

According to the official Kwanzaa Web site (www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/ index.shtml), more than 20 million people worldwide celebrate the festival and many of them are Christians. Those who participate in the holiday do not see a conflict for Christians or any other religious group that may choose to participate in Kwanzaa ceremonies. "We don't call Valentine's Day a pagan holiday," says Walton. "[Kwanzaa] is about the culture--not only of the history of African-Americans and African people, but also of our future. Each of the seven days gives us instructions on how to care for sell and our communities."

Could Kwanzaa and its principles offer a way to instill unity and pride into the Black race? Even if Kwanzaa's sole purpose is to institute positive change in the Black community, there are still skeptics who question whether it meets that goal. Gregory Sain is a Chicago-based motivational speaker and radio personality who became a Muslim in 1983. He says that like many holidays Kwanzaa has become a commercialized celebration that has lost its original meaning.

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Why we celebrate—or don't celebrate Kwanzaa: for many African-Americans, post-Christmas holiday is filled with joy, confusion and ambivalence

Ebony, Dec, 2007 by Shirley Henderson

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