Merry Christmas to all and Happy Kwanzaa!
23rd December 2019 · 0 Comments
As Christmas and Kwanzaa 2019 roll around, The Louisiana Weekly wishes you good tidings and great joy!
Our Christmas wish for Christians who celebrate this spiritual occasion is that we remember that Jesus is the reason for the season and that in celebrating his birth, some 1,998 years ago, that we recommit to his teachings, especially, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”
Many African Americans can identify with Jesus’ humble beginnings, from being born in a stable, because there was no room in the inn, to sharing our limited resources with others. Those of us who were born to privileged families can also identify with Jesus because no matter how privileged or sheltered, we still have been subjected to being legally described as three-fifths human, we still have been scorned and ridiculed for being the least of these, and we have had to fight for every Constitution and human right afforded the dominant culture in America, throughout our existence in the U.S.
For our dear readers who are not Christians nor believe in a higher power, we hope that during this holiday respite, you believe in the power of one; the power of yourself to do good and to treat others as you would be treated because, in the perilous times we face, from climate change to the climate of hate, divisiveness, and greed that has permeated the American soul, we can only succeed and progress to a higher quality of life by loving one another and uniting together to do the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people. Our Christmas wish is for you to recommit to the wisdom of the late, great Marvin Gaye, who sang, “War is not the answer, for only love can conquer hate,” in the timeless lyrics of “Mercy, Mercy Me.”
To all our readers, we hope you recommit to the high standards for growth and African-American culture as encapsulated in the 7 Principles of Kwanzaa (Nguzo Saba), created and launched in 1966 by Maulana Ndabezitha Karenga, activist and author, and chair and advisor of the Africana Studies Department at California State University at Long Beach.
Whether you light the Kwanzaa Kinara and strictly observe the Kwanzaa celebration, from December 26 – January 1, which culminates in gift-giving and a feast, or not, our wish is that you reconnect with our African cultural and historical heritage by embracing Nguzo Saba, the African philosophy.
In explaining Kwanzaa and the challenges facing African-Americans, Karenga once said, “You must have a cultural revolution before the violent revolution. The cultural revolution gives identity, purpose, and direction.”
We need to continue the cultural revolution that Karenga started by observing the Nguzo Saba’s seven principles:
Umoja (Unity) — To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race.
Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) — To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves.
Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility) — To build and maintain our community together and make our brother’s and sister’s problems our problems and to solve them together.
Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics) — To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together.
Nia (Purpose) — To make our collective vocation the building and development of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
Kuumba (Creativity) — To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
Imani (Faith) — To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.
Moving through our daily lives with these principles in mind will result in a stronger, more cohesive community that is ready to successfully take on the obstacles and opportunities that we face in this new century. To do less is to court defeat, to do more is to ensure progress toward equality and self-reliance.
Merry Christmas and Happy Kwanzaa from The Louisiana Weekly to each and everyone of our people.
This article originally published in the December 23, 2019 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
