Kwanzaa: A Season of Celebration Part II

(Part II of II: continuation from last week)

By Dr. Maulana Karenga, Creator of Kwanzaa

In a world where division, hatred and hostility hold sway and imperial wars are waged in the name of a want to be superior race/religion, self-congratulatory claims of saving civilization, the principle of Umoja (unity) teaches us to stand up, step forward in struggle to affirm the position of our foremother Anna Julia Cooper who said: “We take our stand on the solidarity of humanity, the oneness of life and the unnaturalness and injustice of all favoritisms.” Indeed, we stand against all claims of superiority and chosenness over others and instead affirm the truth of the teaching of the Odu Ifa that all humans are divinely chosen to bring good in the world and that they are chosen not over and against anyone, but chosen with everyone to bring, increase and sustain good in the world.

In a world where the Europeanization of human culture and human consciousness presents itself as progress and globalizes coercive conformity under a myriad of masks and duplicitous messages, the principle of Kujichagulia (self-determination) affirms our ethical obligation to remain true and hold fast to the sacred legacy of our ancestors. This means we must embrace and embody in our daily thought and practice the vision and values that define our identity as Africans, cherish our culture as a unique and equal valuable way to be human in the world and to want and advocate no less for the peoples of the world.
In a world and society which sanctions and supports degraded forms of individualism and thrives on ideas and actions of exploitation and oppression of others, the principle of Ujima (collective work and responsibility) teaches us to work together to build the good world we all want and to find common ground; all good comes from the gathering in harmony; reciprocity of men and women, family, community, society and world; doing good.

In a society where greed has grown into virtue; the pursuit of profit has become unannounced religion and the claim of spurious right by military might to seize other people’s land and resources has been raised to a global policy, the principle of Ujamaa (cooperative economics) teaches us to share the work and wealth of the world. Moreover, it teaches us to resist any system or society which privileges power over social justice, the acquisition of profit over the interests of the people, and militarism and materialism over the moral responsibility to care for the vulnerable and be actively concerned with the well-being of the world.
In a world and society where purpose is reduced to materialistic pursuits, defense against media and government-generated enemies and so many have lost their way and lack the will or knowledge to become partners in building the good society and world we all want and deserve to live in, the principle and practice of Nia (purpose) plays an indispensable role. For it teaches us to believe in and work for the good in the world, the right in the way we live and treat each other and the possible inside each of us, and it’s one who is constantly concerned about the needs of the people, who removes evil where we find it and who exalts good everywhere.

In a world and society where destructiveness is national and international policy - where lands and lives are destroyed on a large and grotesque scale and the environment is little more than another field for plunder, pollution, and depletion of resources, Kuumba (creativity) teaches us that in a society where the barbaric practice of bloodletting as an official ritual of revenge posing as justice, we affirm the sacredness of life, the dignity and divinity of everyone regardless of any social standing he or she may have - Djedi.

In a society where concerns and conversations about social justice have been replaced in many religious settings with focus and forums on personal prosperity and silence and inactivity around issues of war, poverty and peace, and in a society where belief in military might, material wealth and religion as an extension of racial claims to superiority rules, and where the gospel of social justice has been replaced with a gospel of personal prosperity, and the care for the vulnerable and poor give way to the construction of prestige projects, the principle and practice of Imani (faith) provides us with an ancient alternative, ethical way to understand and assert our lives in the world. It is the sacred teaching of our ancestors that we should believe in the good, hold on to that which endures in the midst of that which is overthrown, to love one another; to welcome the stranger, to care for the ill, and aged, aid and reduce the poverty of the poor.

Indeed, it teaches us to turn our faith in good into the love of doing good and to leave it as a legacy and storehouse from which those who come after can learn and enrich their lives. We stand for faith infused with a hope that looks at and beyond the horrors and human suffering in the world and continues to believe in the goodness in humanity, the possibility we can indeed carve out of the hard rock of reality a world worthy of the names good, just. A faith rooted in the urgent and ongoing needs and demands of the masses and pointing and moving defiantly toward a new history of humankind, a new way to relate and live together, constantly and cooperatively building and rebuilding the good world we want and deserve to live in.