[3 articles]
Kwanzaa celebrations continue, but boom is over
http://www.nj.com/hudson/voices/index.ssf/2009/12/kwanzaa_celebrations_continue.html
December 19, 2009
NEW YORK -- Four years ago, Evita Broughton celebrated Kwanzaa for
the first time with her family -- lighting a candle each night and
discussing the respective principle.
But she hasn't celebrated the holiday since.
"It felt like a school project that lasted seven nights,'' said
Broughton, 27, of Marietta, Ga. "I didn't feel like I had that
connection. I tried to share my experiences with others but no one
else was celebrating it.''
Kwanzaa, which runs from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1, may be a mainstream
holiday with greeting cards, postage stamps and public celebrations,
but experts say its popularity is receding.
It will not be getting a boost from the first family. The Obamas do
not personally celebrate Kwanzaa, according to White House aides,
though a written message from the president is likely, in keeping
with the practice of his most recent predecessors, Presidents George
W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
Kwanzaa was created in 1966 by Maulana Ron Karenga, a professor at
California State University, Long Beach, who is also executive
director of the African American Cultural Center in Los Angeles.
The holiday was a way for African Americans to honor their culture,
but it was also part of the black power movement of the era. The big
boom in Kwanzaa came during its first two decades, according to Keith
Mayes, author of "Kwanzaa: Black Power and the Making of the
African-American Holiday Tradition.''
But he said participation has leveled off. Based on his research, he
estimates a half-million to 2 million people in the U.S. celebrate
Kwanzaa, out of about 40 million Americans identified by the U.S.
Census as black, including those who are multiracial.
Mayes, an assistant professor of African American & African Studies
at the University of Minnesota, says the black power movement was the
""engine'' for Kwanzaa, and the holiday faded as the movement
receded. It started amid talk of revolution, black power and
community control, but ""in the '90s and in the 21st century, it's no
longer referenced that way,'' said Mayes, adding that white
institutions celebrate it as part of a broader diversity initiative.
""It's all about inclusion, diversity, goodwill, multiculturalism.''
Although Kwanzaa started here, it has become a Pan-African holiday.
The African American Cultural Center places the number of those who
observe Kwanzaa worldwide at 30 million, but even that is a small
fraction of the hundreds of millions of people of African descent all
over the world.
The word comes from the Swahili phrase ''matunda ya kwanza,'' which
means ""first fruits.'' It is not a religious holiday so it can be
celebrated in conjunction with Christmas and Hanukkah. The weeklong
observance is based on seven principles -- one for each day -- known
as the Nguzo Saba: Umoja (unity), Kujichagulia (self-determination),
Ujima (collective work and responsibility), Ujamaa (cooperative
economics), Nia (purpose), Kuumba (creativity) and Imani (faith).
Celebrations take multiple forms, from a family lighting a candle
each night in their home to an afternoon community celebration with
African song and dance honoring the principles.
Camille Zeigler, president of the Atlanta Alumnae Chapter for Delta
Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., said many of the girls who are
first-timers at the black sorority's annual Kwanzaa celebration know
very little about the holiday.
"When you start talking about Kwanzaa and the history of it and what
it truly means for African American people, this is something that is
new and mind-boggling for some of our students,'' she said.
Broughton said when she told black friends she was observing Kwanzaa,
she had to give them a lesson on its meaning. They had heard of it,
but didn't know anyone who celebrated it.
Yvette Braswell, 37, of Studio City, Calif., who celebrated Kwanzaa a
couple of times with her family, said once she moved to the Los
Angeles area nine years ago, she struggled to find others in her
inner circle who did.
"I think it's the culture in L.A.,'' said Braswell, who owns an
online vintage store. She hasn't observed Kwanzaa in years. "People's
cultural values aren't that strong here, in my opinion.''
Some blacks, though, rejected the concept of Kwanzaa all along,
considering it a pagan holiday and taking issue with its founder, a
black nationalist and ex-con -- he was convicted of torturing two women.
Nicole Duncan-Smith, 36, of Brooklyn, N.Y., considers Kwanzaa a
distraction from Christmas and says it doesn't make sense to honor
the holiday's seven principles only during Kwanzaa as opposed to all year.
"I think I have a strong connection to my African heritage,'' she
said, adding that she has issues with the background of the founder,
Karenga. ""But I don't think this particular holiday is of African
derivative.''
The Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, founder of BOND (Brotherhood
Organization of a New Destiny) and author of "SCAM: How the Black
Leadership Exploits Black America'' believes the holiday is racist.
He advocates for blacks to see themselves as Americans -- not
African-Americans, thus no separate holiday.
"Get rid of it,'' said Peterson, who is black. "Reject it completely.
Just as we would do if a white racist came up with a false holiday to
celebrate whiteness.''
But the need for African people to be connected to their culture
hasn't gone away, said Chimbuko Tembo, assistant director of the
center. She said she hears from people all over the world who want to
celebrate what it means to be of African descent.
"It brings me back to my ancestors,'' said Ruth Dorsey, 48, a teacher
who lives in Union City, Ga., who has been observing Kwanzaa for
almost 20 years.
Teresa Hendrix Franco, 44, of Huntersville, N.C., has been observing
Kwanzaa with her family for nearly 30 years, sometimes renting out a
community center to hold all the people.
"We started celebrating Kwanzaa when people were like "uh huh,
whatever,' not taking it seriously,'' said Franco, who is from the
Bronx, N.Y. "So many people have embraced it. We have passed the word
on to other people.''
--------
Happy Kwanzaa!
http://www.intellectualconservative.com/2009/12/15/happy-kwanzaa/
December 15th, 2009
We owe a debt of gratitude to the founder of Kwanzaa, Ron Everett,
AKA Ron Karenga.
As we all know, "The Holidays" are now upon us, and that can mean
only one thing: Kwanzaa is finally here! But I know that some of us
take Kwanzaa for granted, so I thought this would be the perfect time
of year to reflect on the true meaning and spirit of the holiday.
It was an amazing time in history almost 43 years ago when on
December 26, 1966, the first Kwanzaa celebration was begun. For this
we owe a debt of gratitude to the founder of Kwanzaa, Ron Everett,
AKA Ron Karenga.
Ron Karenga, now Dr. Ron "Maulana" (meaning "master teacher" in
Swahili and Arabic) Karenga, is a proud African-American, Marxist
activist, and Black Nationalist. On the founding of Kwanzaa, he had
this to say: "People think it's African, but it's not. I came up with
Kwanzaa because black people wouldn't celebrate it if they knew it
was American. Also, I put it around Christmas because I knew that's
when a lot of Bloods were partying." Fabricating a holiday is
accomplishment enough, but Maulana Karenga is a man of many talents,
and his accomplishments are many more than just that.
From his humble beginnings on a farm in Maryland, Ron Karenga moved
to California to attend Los Angeles City College in the late 1950's,
and was accepted to UCLA, by way of a federal program for students
who had dropped out of high school, where he received his Master's in
Political Science and Africana studies. In the early 1960's, Karenga
met Malcolm X and embraced Black Nationalism. In 1965, he selflessly
put aside his doctoral studies to join the Black Power movement, and
founded his own Black Nationalist organization, the United Slaves
Organization, the same year. It was during this time that he realized
he deserved a title for his diligent efforts, and so, by the power
invested in him, he awarded himself the title "Maulana."
By 1969, the United Slaves had become influential in the Black Power
movement, and there was a schism between the United Slaves and the
Black Panthers on campus at UCLA over who should head the new
Afro-American Studies Center. So a conference was held by the black
students to resolve the situation, during which even more friction
arose between the two groups. In the spirit of its founder, the
United Slaves was not an organization to sit on its hands, so two of
their members shot and killed two Black Panthers members immediately
following the conference. Under the wise guidance of UCLA Chancellor
Charles E. Young, the obvious conclusion was reached that the
incident was isolated and unrelated to either the conference or the
ongoing feud between the two groups.
For the next two years Maulana Karenga worked diligently for his
cause until he was accused of assaulting and imprisoning two female
United Slaves members in 1971. According to their court testimony,
the women were whipped, beaten, stripped of their clothing, burned
with a soldering iron, and had detergent and water hoses placed in
their mouths by the Maulana and two others. Karenga was convicted and
sent to prison where he occupied himself with Marxist writings and
philosophy, becoming quite taken with them. Ironically, much of the
tension between the United Slaves and Black Panthers stemmed from the
fact that the Black Panthers desired a total Marxist reformation of
America, whereas the United Slaves was in favor of black separatism
and isolationism instead.
But if two lives must be lost for the advancement of enlightenment,
that is thankfully a sacrifice that Maulana Karenga was willing to
make. Upon his release, he re-established the United Slaves to
reflect his newfound Marxist ideology. A year later, the Maulana
received his first Doctorate, awarded by United States International
University for his 170-page dissertation, Afro-American Nationalism:
Social Strategy and Struggle for Community. Then in 1977, he
formulated a set of seven principles known as Kawaida Swahili for
"tradition and reason." They are as follows:
Umoja (unity)
Kujichagulia (self-determination)
Ujima (collective work and responsibility)
Ujamaa (cooperative economics)
Nia (purpose)
Kuumba (creativity)
Imani (faith)
Despite the holiday having been established over a decade earlier,
the Maulana decided retroactively that each of the seven days of
Kwanzaa would be representative of one of the Kawaida. Maulana
Karenga is visionary in his application of these principles. In order
to unite the whole of the black race in Umoja it is necessary to
shoot, torture, imprison and maim those who don't agree with the
Maulana politically and even some that do.
Kujichagulia is embodied in Maulana's tenacity in crushing his
opposition and fighting for the racial separation of blacks. Ujima
can be seen in the Maulana's willingness to work with other radical
racist organizations, like the Black Panthers. Ujamaa is shown in his
unselfish redistribution of his own wealth among the black community.
Nia is demonstrated by his calling to lead the black nation to
separation from other races, united under Marxism and pursing the
Kawaida. Kuumba is demonstrated in the Maulana's ability to invent
new holidays and impressive self-appointed titles. And finally, Imani
is exemplified in Maulana's belief in secular/humanist Marxism.
It is this vision and overwhelming intellect that swept Maulana
Karenga into his position as chairman of black studies at California
State University, Long Beach in 1989, and garnered him his second
Doctorate from USC in 1994 for his work, Maat, the moral ideal in
ancient Egypt: A study in classical African ethics. Though the
Maulana left his post at California State in 2002 and is gaining in
years, I know his spirit will live on through his books, Kwanzaa:
Origin, Concepts, Practice and Introduction to Black Studies and
through the Kawaida every year as we celebrate Kwanzaa. It is a
proud, proud holiday indeed. Happy Kwanzaa!
--
See also:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Karenga
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwanzaa
http://www.undergroundnotes.com/kwanzaa.htm
http://www.dartreview.com/issues/1.15.01/kwanzaa.html
http://www.nathanielturner.com/karenga2.htm
--------
The Kwanzaa Incident:
Examination Through a Leftist Lens
http://www.claremontportside.com/?p=1425
By Jeremy B. Merrill
December 14th, 2009
There's been a bit of turmoil at the 5Cs about some videos put up by
Rachael Ballard, SC '11, about an incident at an Office of Black
Student Affairs Kwanzaa celebration. In short, it appears some white
and Asian students went to a Kwanzaa celebration. Apparently, these
students acted somewhat disrespectfully, but their presence at the
celebration was itself seen as disrespectful by some or all of the
black students there. For more, see Charles Johnson's blog on the
topic. Ms. Ballard posted on Facebook a video of her complaining
about the presence of the non-black students at the Kwanzaa celebration.
These videos have been perceived as bigoted, racist and have even
been reported as Bias Related Incidents. However, with a more careful
explication of the philosophical roots of black nationalist movements
and leftism in general, we can understand why Ms. Ballard felt
violated by the events at the Kwanzaa celebration and thereby
understand her anger.
I don't intend to specifically defend or attack anyone's actions. I
believe I may be correct in describing why Ms. Ballard was offended,
but I may not be. If not, then, Ms. Ballard, I apologize in advance
for ascribing my thoughts to you. Even if I'm incorrect about Ms.
Ballard's thoughts, I think my analysis will stand on its own.
I offer this analysis not because it's how I view the world (it's
not) and certainly not because I want to convince you to believe in
it. I neither oppose nor endorse this worldview. I want to explain my
analysis because it will, I think, shed light on some of the rhetoric
and actions of Leftist ideologies in general. This ideology and
understanding of events and actions certainly has its flaws; yours
probably does too, as does mine. However, it is an ideology that
exists and that is very poorly understood, so I'll do my best to
explicate it. I simply want you to understand this particular way of
looking at the world so you can better understand how other people
act. You don't need to embrace it, just understand it.
Modern leftism has its roots in many continental philosophers; most
importantly to this explication, in Hegel and Marx (whom we'll get to
later). Hegel is famous for the Hegelian dialectic, which you
probably learned about in high school English: thesis, antithesis and
synthesis. A thesis can really be anything, or merely the current
state of all things. The antithesis is what it sounds like, the
negation or contradiction of the thesis. The synthesis is what occurs
when the tension between the two is resolved, leading to some sort of
change. Importantly, the synthesis is bound to occur by the very
existence of the thesis and antithesis.
Because the Left traces its historical roots to Marx (and not
necessarily his political economy i.e. Communism but more his
pure philosophy), who himself embraced the Hegelian dialectic (after
making his own changes which are philosophically significant but not
very significant for our purposes), the idea of the dialectic is
fundamentally important to the Left. This manifests itself in the
idea of creating a separate "space" to oppose whatever oppressive
institution is currently being opposed. Here are a few examples to
get your mind thinking like a Leftist:
Communists (among others) oppose capitalism because they see it as
oppressive and exploitative. However, capitalism is the current state
of things, thus capitalism is the thesis. They seek to create a space
apart from capitalism, that is, an antithesis. This antithesis takes
the form of the the "dictatorship of the proletariat"; in this
"space," the proletariat are no longer oppressed by capitalists but
instead are subject to the production dictates of the state. Contrary
to popular belief, this system, probably not too inaccurately
referred to Soviet Communism or Stalinism, is not Communism's end
state. The idea is that, in the future, the dictatorship of the
proletariat and capitalism (i.e. the dictatorship of the bougeousie)
would become synthesized into a communist utopia in which decisions
are made by workers or small communities, not the state. (Obviously,
that didn't work out so well.)
Anarchists talk about "liberated" spaces, from the size of occupied
buildings (like we've seen recently at UCLA, SFSU, NYU, etc.) to the
parts of the Mexican state of Chiapas. These Leftists perceive
capitalist society and government, and police and corporations in
particular, to be oppressive occupiers. Thus, everyday capitalist
society is (again) the thesis, and these liberated spaces are the
antithesis, free of that oppression, from which "the revolution" will
grow to create a synthesis, an anarchist utopia (see a theme here?)
perceived as more just.
Feminists see "patriarchy" or "oppressive male power structures"
which they see throughout society as a problem: thesis. They create
spaces, like womyn's lands (at least in the 1960s/1970s) or the
Motley, that are supposed to be free from male domination:
antithesis. Some of these spaces, like lesbian communities ("womyn's
land") like Alapine (which combines withdrawal from male domination
with withdrawal from heteronormativity.), are meant to be entirely or
mostly free of men. Others, like the Motley, are meant to put women
in positions of power and, in so doing, prevent oppressive male power
structures from forming. Feminists (by and large) aren't seeking to
eliminate men from power as an end goal. They are seeking to destroy
male power structures that automatically put men above women. After
that, as synthesis, they would be happy to have men in power
structures, as long as there is no oppression by sexist institutions
against women.
The first issue of the Claremont Progressive [not online] had an
article "Privilege and Pomona" by Nick Gerber which mentioned wanting
Pomona to become an "institution of liberation," as opposed to an
institution of privilege and oppression. The Progressive sees the
current Pomona College as a thesis which ought to be changed to be
more accepting of less affluent, non-white, non-male, non-able-bodied
and non-straight students. This utopian "institution of liberation"
is the synthesis, because, presumably, it and its members would not
make any distinctions based on race, gender, sexual
orientation/preference, able-bodied-ness, or class. However, the
means of achieving that synthesis is: antithesis. This antithesis
would explicitly engage in policies to destroy the oppressive
institutions through (presumably) affirmative action, through
education about "problematic" language and micro-aggressions, and
through refusing to fire workers who are perceived as less than full
members of the Pomona community.
Hopefully, at this point, you're getting to recognize the idea here.
Think of a Leftist group or some demand of some 1960s radicals, and
you'll probably be able to recognize this thesis -> antithesis ->
synthesis idea, the Hegelian dialectic.
Now, let's see how that applies to the Kwanzaa incident. The thesis
that many black nationalist groups, such as the Black Panthers, and
other black, non-nationalist groups oppose is, of course, what they
see as racist, oppressive institutions. They feel that black people
are oppressed by unfair drug laws, unfair police attention and
discrimination, standards of beauty that don't include many black
people, perceived class and education differences between white and
black people, etc. To someone who feels oppressed by these
"institutions," then everyday activities take place in an oppressive
environment. (Whether this is true or not, or even if there's a
meaningful, objective answer to that question is not the point.)
Thus, to black activists who rose to prominence in the leftist
culture of the 1960s and who trace their political roots through
leftism (For instance, the Black Panthers, whose founder Bobby Seale
wrote that his fight "is a class struggle between the massive
proletarian working class and the small, minority ruling class." The
Marxist rhetoric is rather prominent), they must find some sort of antithesis.
This antithesis takes the form of a space physical or not apart
from perceived racist, oppressive institutions. I argue that this
negative space (negative in that it is without oppression) is twofold
in this specific incident: the OBSA is one such space, and the
institution of Kwanzaa is another. Kwanzaa is more obvious: Ron
Karenga, Kwanzaa's founder, was a black nationalist in the 1960s who
wanted to create a Black alternative to Christmas and Christianity,
which he (at the time) perceived as white, dominant and oppressive.
Kwanzaa was created de novo and purposely free of white religious influence.
The OBSA is similar. Like many African-American student resources and
academic departments around the country, the OBSA was founded in a
time of turmoil (sometimes violent) at the Claremont Colleges in the
late 1960s. [For more commentary from a certain political
viewpoint, of course see Ward Elliott's history of CMC or Harry
Jaffa's "The Reichstag is Still Burning" 1989 valedictory address{See
note below}]. Part of the Black student radicals' demands during this
period included acknowledging that Pomona was, at that particular
time, "a white college that gave a white education." Of course,
therefore, the OBSA was created to be a place where the Claremont
Colleges could be examined critically and where non-white students
could escape perceived white oppression.
Now, here's the reason I think that the Kwanzaa incident was
particularly offensive or angering. The Kwanzaa celebration at the
OBSA was dually a "separate space." However, it's separation (and
thus, antithetical nature) was eliminated when white and Asian
students came, apparently uninvited, and acted in disruptive,
disrespectful or "oppressive" ways. It doesn't particularly matter
that the students didn't intend to be disruptive, disrespectful or
oppressive, the perception of their presence was that it was
disruptive and that therefore destroyed the essence of the event as a
"separate space." Thus, the Kwanzaa event was ruined by the white and
Asian students behavior or presence. I don't mean to affix blame: I
hope that the OBSA could find a way to be welcoming to non-black
students at a Kwanzaa event or at some other event. Ms. Ballard's
anger is far more understandable if we understand that, at least from
one perspective, her event was to some extent ruined by the very
institution it was meant to oppose.
Implicitly, at least, in this ideology is the idea that a non-racist
synthesis a non-racist, non-oppressive Claremont Colleges can be
created. Martin Luther King put it explicitly: he dreams for a nation
where his children will be judged not by the color of their skin but
by the content of their character. According to the Hegelian paradigm
inherent in leftism, this synthesis will be reached. However, it is
only reached through antithetical, separate spaces like the OBSA or
Kwanzaa. Since it's clear that we do not have a race-blind society,
to someone who endorses this thought process, the OBSA and Kwanzaa
are still necessary and Ms. Ballard's angry reaction is quite
understandable. Likewise, we can see that Ms. Ballard's actions
weren't racist in any meaningful sense, although quite possibly
presumptive and oversensitive.
A few related thoughts:
I don't have any problem with my student activities funds being used
to fund events at which I am not welcome by their nature. My funds
are probably used to pay for communion wafers, which I cannot eat,
since I cannot receive Communion as a Jew. Your funds are probably
used to pay for volunteer activities open to fluent Spanish speakers;
you may not be able to attend since you don't speak Spanish. Jim
Nauls' funds are often used to pay for small friend-group events at
which you or I might not be welcome, since we aren't members of a
given friend group. You're more than welcome to join me for Shabbat
services and I'm probably welcome to join you at Sunday services or
Jumua'a or most other events, but that's because those events are
not defined by the absence of something in particular. Hopefully the
OBSA will come up with a way for non-black students to learn about
Kwanzaa in a way that is not perceived as oppressive by the community
who celebrates Kwanzaa. This incident is not very welcoming and
doesn't build much goodwill.
Racism is best understood in the "power + prejudice" paradigm.
Prejudice without power is still bad, but less so, because it is
powerless. Who cares if some Native American guy doesn't like white
people? But when someone with power a college admissions officer, a
CEO, a government official harbors prejudice and acts on it, he has
literally oppressed a group of people by taking away opportunities
they would have otherwise had. You have no right to tell other people
to think; you do have some right to tell others how to act with
regards to you. (So, yes, being unwelcoming to non-black people at
Kwanzaa was a little bit racist. However, the oppression felt by the
students was probably fairly small, at least relative to the constant
oppression felt by many non-white students.)
I have no idea why the black students at the Kwanzaa celebration felt
oppressed by the presence of the non-black students. Maybe they felt
that they were being judged. Maybe they felt that their meaningful
personal rituals were being watched as if they were an exhibit. Maybe
they felt they couldn't be themselves. I don't know. But it seems
that some of the black students felt oppressed. There isn't any
objective measure (that I know of…) that measures whether an action
is oppressive; we'll have to take the students at their word that
they felt oppressed.
The Bias Related Incident system at the 5Cs is stupid. It's a source
of humor and it doesn't serve to deter
racist/sexist/heteronormative/etc. behavior or, I'd assume, show much
of a sense of institutional "solidarity" with the victims of such
behavior. Responses to extremely serious events might merit an
all-campus email, but someone getting tortillas thrown at them by a
drunk person probably doesn't. Feel free to oppose what you see as
oppressive on your own, but demanding institutional realization of
your views on oppression is a little much.
I tried to link to many of my sources for important quotes. I
referred to Wikipedia for a lot of the refresher information I used
in writing this article. If I'm incorrect about anything, please
point it out. My apologies in advance. (I'll try to track down a copy
of "The Reichstag is Still Burning: The Failure of Higher Education
and the Decline of the West" by former CMC prof Harry Jaffa. Until
then, the Claremont Independent has an editorial featuring generous
quotes from the document. Edit 12/15, 11:17am : I got a copy of "The
Reichstag is Still Burning: The Failure of Higher Education and the
Decline of the West" by former CMC prof Harry Jaffa. It's a really
interesting history of the late 1960s in Claremont, and while it
takes a position diametrically opposed to mine in this article, it's
still quite elucidating. Send me an email if you want a copy:
jmerrill12 at cmc dot edu)
UPDATE: Looks like the white and Asian students were invited. That
doesn't really change the equation. They were seen as "oppressive"
and therefore disruptive. I can't very well say that they were not
oppressive, since that's something neither I nor they have much say
in. All I can say is that I reiterate my point that the OBSA should
not only invite non-black students but also welcome them at events.
And that maybe Ms. Ballard ought to see this through other people's
viewpoints too and understand why no one meant to be offensive,
oppressive or disruptive. And finally, that the rest of us ought to
see why she was offended.
--
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