simplify your kwanzaa
It’s that time of the year. Yes, that’s right, it’s the season of hand wringing Kwanzaa articles. The Grio, for example, has a yearly tradition of publishing articles claiming it is actually cool and people really do celebrate it. The issue with Kwanzaa isn’t that the holiday was invented by a black nationalist in 1966. A lot of holidays were invented out of thin air and do pretty well. The real issue is that Kwanzaa is complicated. First, it’s too long. Dec 26 to Jan 1 is the official period. Then, it uses a language (Swahili) that isn’t in use in this country. To top it all off, the rituals are complicated. You have to get these candles and foods and so forth. Even though black educational and cultural movements are one of my research specialties, I still can’t remember all the Kwanzaa rituals. Yes, Christmas and Hanukkah are complicated, but, dude, they had, like, over two thousand years to develop. People need time to grow into a new holiday.
My humble suggestion is that Kwanzaa be drastically simplified:
- Make it one day. December 26 isn’t bad. People are still around for Christmas and it is unclaimed by other holidays.
- Cut it down from seven themes to one or two themes. I suggest “legacy” and “community.”
- Stick to English. If you must use Swahili, just make the two themes Ujima and Kuumba. Don’t use other non-English terms.
- Have one meaningful, but easy to implement, ceremony. My suggestion is that people gather in a circle and testify to either “legacy” or “community.” An elder may give a short recollection of a struggle (“legacy”). A young person may promise to help others in the coming year (“community”). There are other ways to interpret your testimonial.
- Drop the gear, but keep the candles. A nice touch would be to have the candles sit on a cloth made of fabric or pattern associated with the African Diaspora, a practice that is already common among adherents.
If you really love the week long Kwanzaaganza, then, hey, go for it. But I really think a simplified holiday might get a lot more followers.
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Dec. 26 is Boxing Day in many countries, but point taken.
Jeff Smith
December 28, 2011 at 10:37 am
As a Swahili speaker, I find the misspellings and odd translations frustrating. The appropriation of words, rituals, and symbols out of context and without regard to how they are actually used in different places in Africa seems to miss the point of Pan-Africanism, as does the stereotypical “in AFRICA we/they do X.” I like the idea of the holiday and that’s about it.
lpg
December 28, 2011 at 12:42 pm
I celebrate Newtonmas. When Kimberly Winston of the Religion News Service interviewed me a couple of weeks ago, I cited both the Seinfeld episode about “Festivus” and also Kwanzaa as inventions allowed by our multicultural society. None would have been allowed in Newton’s time.
Michael E. Marotta
December 28, 2011 at 2:46 pm
Fabio – I hope you see the irony in telling black people how they should celebrate religious traditions. Beyond the funny/ironic part, this is offensive. Any suggestions for Jews on how to cut down on the onerous quality of the high holidays? Lent sure can be a drag. Perhaps you have thoughts for Christians on how to shorten it, and “cheer up” Easter. Eid can be gruesome and scary for small children — what with the whole Abraham/Isaac thing. Maybe you’ve got some reform ideas there too?
shakha
December 28, 2011 at 9:47 pm
Shaka: The one thing to know about Kwanza is that it is not a religious holiday There are all too many white kids being mis-educated on that point in our schools these days..
olderwoman
December 29, 2011 at 12:29 am