Kwanzaa

Thirty-five years ago, a California activist now known as Dr. Maulana Karenga searched for a unifying solution to help his community heal after the 1965 Los Angeles riots.

Dr. Karenga created Kwanzaa in 1966, in hopes of strengthening family ties and community cooperation among African-Americans. Using African symbols and the Kiswahili language, he shaped a cultural holiday to remind participants of the contributions of people with African heritage living around the world.

Spread over the seven days between the day after Christmas and New Year's Day, each night of Kwanzaa was dedicated to discussing Kwanzaa's seven principles (called Nguzo Saba). The principles were derived from Kawaida, the philosophy of African thought and practice. They highlight subjects such as cooperative economics, creativity, self-determination and faith.

This year's racial unrest in Cincinnati underscores why Kwanzaa still is relevant 35 years after its creation, experts say.

“The five major activities of Kwanzaa are even more important to practice at this time for Cincinnati,” says Tulivu Jadi, assistant director of the Los Angeles-based African American Cultural Center. Dr. Karenga is the center's director.

“First, it's a time for an in-gathering of the people, for them to come together,” he says. “Especially to be in touch with people you haven't been in touch with to reinforce those bonds.”

Kwanzaa is a time to show reverence for the natural resources and preserving the Earth, he says. It also is a time to honor the past, “for those on whose shoulders we stand. Focus on those in our personal past who impacted our lives.”

People need to recommit themselves to the highest ideals, the ethical values of African-American culture, he says.

“This is an opportunity to celebrate how far we have come and the positive things done during the year. Celebrating the good in our lives makes it possible to see the best in the bleakest of times,” Mr. Jadi says.

Several organizations in the Tristate hold Kwanzaa celebrations. More than 300 people attended the City-wide Kwanzaa Committee's celebration last year, according to chairman Curt Standifer. That attendance number was down from previous years as more neighborhoods have begun to sponsor their own gatherings. Mr. Standifer thinks the intimate settings are better for families to learn more about the principles.

“I encourage families to celebrate,” he says. “We have our celebration on the first night, but it's better to celebrate it in small groups each remaining night in its entirety.”

Mr. Standifer suggests participants ask themselves and each other their personal views of the day's principle, whether they follow it in their lives and what positive effect it has for them and for others. He encourages participation by all generations, especially children.

Faith Patterson of Yellow Springs has celebrated Kwanzaa in her home for much of its 35 years. Mrs. Patterson, president of the African American Cross-Cultural Works, is looking forward to this year's event, one her organization sponsors.

“I've been involved with Kwanzaa for a long time,” she says. “I've been interested in seeing this evolve because AACW's mission is to study cultures all over the world.”

While she encourages others to learn about those cultures, she stops short of identifying Kwanzaa as an intercultural event.

“Kwanzaa is about me,” says Ms. Patterson. “It's about my people. My effort is to teach everyone about Kwanzaa and to work at keeping our legacy alive. I'm happy for others to share in our legacy” while allowing for private celebrations at home with close friends and family.

“Kwanzaa is a reason to get together, to fellowship,” says Mr. Standifer. “Include children in the discussion to make Kwanzaa become clear in its importance. Kwanzaa's purpose has duality. It was born based on the struggles we have to wage every day. It encourages us to look at our African history and culture. Looking at the past is the only thing that determines what our future will be.”

To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves.

To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers' and sisters' problems our problems and to solve them together.

To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together.

To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.

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.

To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

Kwanzaa celebrates pursuit of principles

By Kevin Aldridge
The Cincinnati Enquirer
12/26/2001

Beginning today, millions of people worldwide, mostly African-Americans, will light a candle each day for a week.

Preparing to celebrate Kwanzaa are (from left) Deandre White, Rita Nzinga-Burgin, Terrence Clinkscales, Kwasi Burgin, and Albert Burgin.
(Steven M. Herppich photo)
|

They will be observing Kwanzaa, a celebration of African ancestry and communion that calls on each person and the community to commit to seven principles, building blocks for families. The principles are:

• Unity.
• Self-determination.
• Collective work and responsibility.
• Cooperative economics.
• Purpose.
• Creativity.
• Faith.

The Enquirer last week asked some city leaders and residents how Cincinnati — as a community family — can live up to Kwanzaa's goals. Here are their responses:

Annette Mundon, a mental health therapist in College Hill, said Kwanzaa principles should be important to every family, black or white, given the city's race difficulties.

“With all the things that are going on in Cincinnati, we definitely need to ... recognize what is happening with families, what breaks them down and what builds them up,” she said.

She will host her eighth annual Kwanzaa observance Friday.

Rita Nzinga's Bond Hill family has celebrated Kwanzaa for 24 years.

“The principles for me are not just for Kwanzaa; they're something that you live by all year long,” she said.

Unity
Kwanzaa is about community, too, so several community leaders lent their personal and communal thoughts to lighting the figurative candles symbolizing the seven principles.

Mayor Charlie Luken said he plans to do many things to achieve greater unity in the city.

“Unity is what we need more than anything else,” he said.

“I'm working on a program that will be a lunch with the mayor, in which we'll bring down a community council or a constituency group down to the mayor's office and talk about things that people care about.

“There's a unity component to just about everything we're doing, from police-community relations to passing the budget.”

Norma Holt Davis, president of NAACP's Cincinnati branch, says the city must act in unity, “whether it's justice for all, a decrease in homelessness, or improving police-community relations, we need to decide as a community how we can work to make progress on that particular issue and forget about our differences.”

Self-determination
The Rev. Damon Lynch III, pastor of New Prospect Baptist Church in Over-the-Rhine and leader of the Cincinnati Black United Front, says the community must leaving no one behind.

“We need to ... determine Cincinnati's future by coming together and taking responsibility for ourselves, as well as for others,” he said.

“We have to lift each other up. The key is, we are all parts of the whole... Every part must fulfill its responsibility and its purpose.”

Collective work, responsibility

Ross Love, president and CEO of Blue Chip Broadcasting and co-chair of Cincinnati Community Action Now, said the Cincinnati family must organize and implement plans to reduce disparities that lead to a much lower quality of life for many citizens.

“This would involve finding ways to meaningfully employ the less-skilled among us,” he said, “successfully educate those who have historically fallen by the wayside in our school system, open the door to better housing and a better community environment for those living in our most troubled neighborhoods, and, most of all, create a culture here in which police treat all citizens, all citizens treat police, and neighbors treat neighbors with dignity, respect and open-mindedness.”

Cooperative economics
Michael Fisher, president of the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, said the goal includes maintaining and building up businesses, and strengthening partnerships that can lead to increased opportunities.

He said he hopes the chamber will develop stronger ties with Cincinnati Community Action Now, the Tri-State Chamber Collaborative, South Central Ohio Minority Supplier Business Council and others.

“In the coming year I would hope that thousands of our young people will have opportunities to participate in strong and coordinated youth and summer employment programs, opportunities to develop a good work ethic, explore career path ... and earn some money,” he said.

“I hope that dozens of our local minority businesses will get the access and support they need to tap into the increasingly successful and growing supply of diversity programs of our community's leading corporations.”

Purpose
Ray Brokamp, president of Leadership Cincinnati, said Cincinnati's purpose should be to leverage its differences rather than allow them to separate people.

“We have to expand our relationships,” he said.

“We have to welcome into our lives people who come from different environments, cultures and experiences. There really is no other way to improve our community, unless we advance together and embrace in the advancement of individuals who have other perspectives.”

Creativity
Cathy Roma, artistic director of MUSE, Cincinnati's Women's Choir, said that embracing creativity sparks a renaissance of goodwill and understanding in a diverse world.

“I think there is nothing better than the arts to bring people together,” she said. “I think it has the ability to cross all sorts of boundaries and borders.

She called for city leadership to improve access and support for the arts, especially in schools.

“Creativity is linked with imagination and curiousity,” she said.

“Providing more monies to schools that can nurture the arts and creativity would be a powerful way to improve what goes on for young people ... giving them more access to the expression of their creativity.”

Faith
Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk of the Cincinnati archdiocese, said opening up to others is a requirement of faith.

“Resistance to and rejection of diversity is generally an expression of selfishness or pettiness or ignorance or insecurity in addition to injustice,” he said.

He said the word "catholic” means universal, worldwide, or all-embracing.

“The Book of Revelation teaches us that heaven is populated by "those from every tribe and tongue, people and nation.'” he said. “If you're uncomfortable with diversity, you won't be happy there.”

Enquirer contributors Mona Bronson-Fuqua and Andy Knight of Cincinnati.com contributed to this report.