Posted by
Ikester on Friday, January 01, 2010 2:53:41 PM
Today is the last day of the holiday Kwanza and I thought it good to give some background information on it. Kwanza is a recent holiday and was created to challenge Christmas and promote humanism. The following is an excerpt from Wikipedia on the history of Kwanza, its founder and its purposes. It is not just an innocent holiday but has definite purposes behind it.
Ron Karenga created Kwanzaa in 1966 as the first specifically African American holiday.Karenga said his goal was to "give Blacks an alternative to the existing holiday and give Blacks an opportunity to celebrate themselves and history, rather than simply imitate the practice of the dominant society.” The name Kwanzaa derives from the Swahili phrase matunda ya kwanza, meaning first fruits of the harvest. The choice of Swahili, an East African language, reflects its status as a symbol of Pan-Africanism, especially in the 1960s.
Kwanzaa is a celebration that has its roots in the black nationalist movement of the 1960s, and was established as a means to help African Americans reconnect with their African cultural and historical heritage by uniting in meditation and study of African traditions and common humanist principles.
During the early years of Kwanzaa, Karenga said that it was meant to be an alternative to Christmas, that Jesus was psychotic, and that Christianity was a white religion that black people should shun. However, as Kwanzaa gained mainstream adherents, Karenga altered his position so that practicing Christians would not be alienated, then stating in the 1997 Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community, and Culture, "Kwanzaa was not created to give people an alternative to their own religion or religious holiday.”
In 1971, Karenga, Louis Smith, and Luz Maria Tamayo were convicted of felony assault and false imprisonment for assaulting and torturing over a two day period two women from the US Organization, Deborah Jones and Gail Davis. An article in the Los Angeles Times described the testimony of one of the women: "Deborah Jones, who once was given the title of an African queen, said she and Gail Davis were whipped with an electrical cord and beaten with a karate baton after being ordered to remove their clothes. She testified that a hot soldering iron was placed in Miss Davis' mouth and placed against Miss Davis' face and that one of her own big toes was tightened in a vise. Karenga, head of US, also put detergent and running hoses in their mouths, she said".
Karenga was influenced in the creation of his ethos for US by Malcolm X.
"Malcolm was the major African American thinker that influenced me in terms of nationalism and Pan-Africanism. As you know, towards the end, when Malcolm is expanding his concept of Islam, and of nationalism, he stresses Pan-Africanism in a particular way. And he argues that, and this is where we have the whole idea that cultural revolution and the need for revolution, he argues that we need a cultural revolution, he argues that we must return to Africa culturally and spiritually, even if we can’t go physically. And so that’s a tremendous impact on US. And US saw it, when I founded it, as the sons and daughters of Malcolm, and as an heir to his legacy." —Ron Karenga
POST NOTE: I wonder how many Christian blacks know the original history of this holiday. Can one celebrate Kwanza and Christmas also and remain consistent with the biblical message of Christmas? It is obvious that its founder wanted to establish an anti-Christian holiday and express his hatred for Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, like other things, the image of this holiday has been air brushed into acceptability. My goal here is to merely point out the origin and historical purposes of it. The torture of these two women says a lot about the founder. If this is about celebrating African heritage then what does torture have to do with it? Well, there you have it. In the future you will better know what this holiday is all about.
Happy New Year to all of you!