Kristen Gyles | The second day of Kwanzaa

Humankind is obsessed with celebrations. We look for every excuse to cut a cake, drink some juice and have a good time. The excitement feels organic when someone has got married, had a baby or made some other accomplishment, but we actually don’t need an excuse to engage in a little excitement. We can choose to have a good time at any time - no reason, no context, no explanations.

For centuries, people have conveniently used the story of Jesus’ birth as the ‘excuse’ to have a good time in December notwithstanding that the idea of Jesus being born on December 25 was debunked long ago. Christians, in particular, will still insist that “Jesus is the reason for the season” and will advocate for people not to take the ‘Christ’ out of ‘Christmas’ as if the December 25 celebration didn’t exist long before Jesus’ time.

Deep down, we really just want to celebrate something, even if that thing is all made up.

With all that said, there is a less-popular holiday that a few Jamaicans celebrate during the festive season. It avoids the long-winded, fabricated stories about a mystical workshop of elves, a flying fleet of reindeer and a big belly, bearded man sliding down the chimney. And if it is of any consolation, it also makes no reliance on pagan symbols like the Christmas tree or mistletoe. It is called Kwanzaa.

AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL HOLIDAY

Kwanzaa is celebrated from December 26 to January 1. It is an African American cultural holiday celebrated primarily in the United States, but its observance has been adopted by segments of the African diaspora in Canada and the Caribbean. The holiday was created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, a professor of African Studies, as a way to reconnect African Americans with their African heritage and engender a sense of unity and cultural pride.

During the time Dr Karenga created this holiday, African Americans were eager to reconnect with their African roots and traditions. In the 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement was in full swing, and there was an increasing interest in cultural pride and African heritage. African Americans had long been disconnected from many aspects of their ancestral history due to the traumatic experiences of slavery and colonialism. Kwanzaa was designed to fill this gap. Furthermore, Kwanzaa was intended to educate African American children about their cultural legacy, history, and values. The word Kwanzaa comes from a Swahili phrase “Matunda ya Kwanza” which means first fruits of the harvest since Kwanzaa festivities are based on African harvest celebrations.

Kwanzaa was originally intended to be an alternative to mainstream Christmas traditions, which were often seen as being Eurocentric, commerce-oriented and disconnected from African American cultural identity. However, many people celebrate both Christmas and Kwanzaa since Kwanzaa is not a religious holiday and can be practised by people of all religions.

SEVEN SYMBOLS

Kwanzaa Is characterised by seven symbols and seven principles. One of the seven symbols of Kwanzaa is the Kinara, which is a candle holder that holds seven candles, each representing one of the seven principles of Kwanzaa. The candles together are referred to as “Mishumaa Saba” and are red, black and green - the colours of Kwanzaa. Red represents the blood shed by our ancestors during the fight against slavery, black represents the colour of the people and green represents the fertile land of Africa. The Mishumaa Saba is another symbol of Kwanzaa. The centre candle is always black and has three green candles to the left and three red candles to the right. Each night of the celebration, a different candle on the Kinara is lit representing the celebration of a different principle.

Day 1: Umoja (unity) – A day to emphasise the importance of maintaining togetherness in the family, community, nation, and race.

Day 2: Kujichagulia (self determination) – A day to emphasize the importance of knowing one’s self and resisting the definition placed on ourselves by others.

Day 3: Ujima (collective work and responsibility) – A day to encourage the building of the black community through cooperation. It emphasizes helping each other and adopting each other’s problems as our own and solving them together.

Day 4: Ujamaa (cooperative economics) – A day to encourage the building of black-owned stores, shops, and businesses and to emphasise the significance of these businesses to the success of the black community.

Day 5: Nia (purpose) – A day to encourage each other to find our purpose on the earth as individuals and to encourage each other to use our vocations in the building and development of our community.

Day 6: Kuumba (creativity) – A day for celebrating our unique contributions to our communities through innovation and ingenuity and emphasizing the importance of doing whatever we can, in the way we can, to the betterment of our community.

Day 7: Imani (faith) – A day for fostering belief in our people, our leaders, and faith in a brighter future.

On either the sixth or seventh day of Kwanzaa, the feast of Karamu is typically held incorporating mainly African and Afro-Caribbean dishes. It is usually accompanied by a programme of story-telling, singing, dancing, poetry and other artistic pieces.

Millions of people celebrate Kwanzaa, but very few Jamaicans do. Notwithstanding, it is definitely a celebration worth considering, not necessarily as a replacement for Christmas, Hanukkah, or any other religious or cultural holiday, but as a tradition to remind us of the impact that African values has had on our culture.

Kristen Gyles is a free-thinking public affairs opinionator. Send feedback to kristengyles@gmail.com and columns@gleanerjm.com