Habari Gani Y’all?

Peace. It’s the 1st day of Kwanzaa and I am tickled. And not necessarily in a good way…

Kwanzaa is an observance that Dr. Karenga, and Original man, came up with for BLACK American people to have for themselves. I came to Kwanzaa late. My Dad gave me a kinara because he bought it with the intent of celebrating it himself and got lost. I don’t blame him. After getting it, I had no idea what to do with it either. It was the 90’s and the internet had not been released yet. I asked my mother, a librarian, if she could get me some info on the holiday, but she decided it was not of-Jesus and lied to me about being able to find information. Once I got access the world wide web, I found some information and a conscious book store hipped me to a few books and my personal Kwanzaa observance was born.

I don't see it as a gift holiday like xmas, or a religious one like Hanukkah. It is not an African holiday/observance so there is no need to don a dashiki unless you dress like that anyway. It is time for me to reflect on me, my life, and the status of Original people. And there is a new build each day. Day one is Unity. I tend not to think so much the Swahili words. I speak American English and live in a country where that is the language. I don't speak any other Swahili words... though I do have the Rosetta Stone... I get it's part of the tradition and I leave them there, But when I build on the day... It's the English word. I wake contemplating the attribute, at some point with regard to Supreme Mathematics, and in the evening, I light my candles and build with the 7 over a meal. Then I extinguish them candles quick. 1 set is supposed to last a week. And Kwanzaa candles are expensive when you buy them in the conscious stores. One store I went to wanted $12 for 7 candles. That is highway robbery! But I am funny about the the colors of my candles. I only like a certain green and a certain red. On New Years Day, I prepare a traditional Black people meal complete with black eyed peas and collard greens and do the damn thing. Them candles can burn how they want to on the Faith day... I usually like to have friends drop in and out and share the food. But they gotta bring something. Negroes will eat up ALL your food if you let them. And sharing of a meal is more in tune with my cee on the celebration.

What makes me nervous... is that our lack of support of said holiday will open the doors for the devil to claim it. This is how they do. They steal from Original people, bastardize it and sell it back to us at a profit. Just like they did to Jazz, blues and rap music. Look at this shit....

I really feel like it’s a damn shame. Black folks desire their own specific, authentic culture, yet when faced with the desires, they side eye it. Kwanzaa came out in the 60’s people. That was nearly 60 years ago. There are lots of people who weren’t born in the 60’s yet they learned how to celebrate their own birthdays. So the bull shit excuse of not knowing what to do is shit. Especially coupled with rampant internet access. Get you a kinara, a mat, some candles, fruit and cowrie shells. With the exception of the kinara (and not necessarily) you can find everything you need at a beauty supply store…. Celebrate being Black people! Nobody does it like we do it.

OK… With that being said I can move on to my Umoja/Unity build…..

Today’s Supreme Mathematics is Wisdom Equality abbt Build/Destroy. My cee on unity coincides with social... men coming together for a common cause. That is an action. And one's actions must yield a balance otherwise your destroying. But when the reverse is true, you build. So we can be Build as a group or Destroy as a group. Either way, we are unified.

I was watching Roots this weekend. BET was showing it and I realized that where as I saw Roots when it 1st aired on TV, there is a whole generation of young adults… with their own children…. Who have never seen Roots before. WOW! That movie is 35+ years old! Young people have seen Blaxploitation movies but not roots? I was looking at the responses from young folk on Twitter, FB and Tumblr and realized that for a lot of them, this is their 1st vision of slavery and it slapped them in the face how devils did and do. I blame my generation for letting the lamps go out. My mother was good, really good, about telling my brother and I about the realities of what her life was like in the Jim Crow south and not letting us forget that the devil is alive and well. I had it better than my ancestors but I have not shared their and my own testimonies with the babies. Yes white folks are still racist (as our president’s election has brought to the surface) but there was a time when we weren’t even allowed to bitch about it otherwise, we’d get dead, sold away from our families, or our feet cut off. We have to do better. Slavery was not that long ago. My great, great grandmother was a slave.

So my unifying action will be focused on letting the younger people know ***singing*** how we got over……. And hopefully that will build stronger communities.

Peace!