Posted on 12/25/2006 11:55:47 AM PST by DogByte6RER
Kwanzaa is Right Around the Corner
LOS ANGELES, CA (CNS) -- The seven-day festival of Kwanzaa begins tomorrow, marking its 40th anniversary amid growing official acceptance and criticism of its authenticity and value.
Maulana Karenga, a professor in Cal State Long Beach's Department of Black Studies, created Kwanzaa in 1966 in an attempt to reaffirm and restore blacks' ties to African culture, reaffirm and reinforce bonds among blacks and to introduce and reinforce the ''Nguzo Saba,'' the Seven Principles, according to the Official Kwanzaa Web Site, www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org.
The Seven Principles are unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.
During the week, a candelabrum called a ''kinara'' is lit, and ears of corn representing each child in the family are placed on a traditional straw mat.
African foods such as millet, spiced pepper balls and rice are often served. Some people fast during the holiday, and a feast is often held on the holiday's final night.
A flag with three bars -- red for the struggle for freedom, black for unity and green for the future -- is sometimes displayed during the holiday.
Kwanzaa is based on the theory of Kawaida, which espouses that social revolutionary change for black America can be achieved by exposing blacks to their cultural heritage.
Kwanzaa's authenticity and value have been questioned by several newspaper columnists.
In a 1999 column, Tony Snow, now the White House press secretary, wrote, ''There is no part of Kwanzaa that is not fraudulent.''
Snow's basis for calling Kwanzaa fraudulent include its ceremonies for having no discernible African roots and it being named for a Swahili term, an East African language, while most black Americans are descended from slaves from West Africa.
''Nobody ever ennobled a people with a lie or restored stolen dignity through fraud,'' Snow wrote. ''Kwanzaa is the ultimate chump holiday -- Jim Crow with a false and festive wardrobe. It praises practices -- 'cooperative economics, and collective work and responsibility' -- that have succeeded nowhere on earth and would mire American blacks in endless backwardness.''
In a column in Saturday's New York Times, Orlando Patterson, a Harvard sociology professor, wrote that Kwanzaa is ''pure invention, in a manner similar to the wholly fictitious Scottish highland tradition that pipes up around the New Year.''
''Kwanzaa borrowed heavily from Hanukkah, right down to the menorah, in fashioning the American art of mirroring the mainstream while doing one's one ethnic thing,'' Patterson wrote.
There was no response to a request for an interview with Karenga.
Although a 2005 poll commissioned by the National Retail Federation found that 1 percent of those surveyed said they would celebrate Kwanzaa, compared to 94 percent who said they would celebrate Christmas and 5 percent who said they would celebrate Hanukkah, the U.S. Postal Service issued Kwanzaa stamps in 1997 and 2004, and an annual Kwanzaa presidential message is released.
In his year's Kwanzaa message, President Bush said ''40 years after the first Kwanzaa, this hopeful occasion remains an opportunity to build the bonds of family, community, culture and move ever closer to the founding promise of liberty and justice for all.''
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is scheduled to attend the California African American Museum's annual Kwanzaa candle lighting ceremony tomorrow in Exposition Park.
Kwanzaa was invented in 1966 by Dr. Ron "Maulana" Karenga.
In 1971 Ron (sic Maulana) Karenga, Louis Smith, and Luz Maria Tamayo were convicted of felony assault and false imprisonment for assaulting and torturing two women from the United Slaves, Deborah Jones & Gail Davis. A May 14, 1971 article in the Los Angeles Times described the testimony of one of the women: "Deborah Jones, who once was given the Swahili title of an African queen, said she and Gail Davis were whipped with an electrical cord and beaten with a karate baton after being ordered to remove their clothes. She testified that a hot soldering iron was placed in Ms. Davis's mouth and placed against Ms. Davis's face and that one of her own big toes was tightened in a vise. Karenga, head of US, also put detergent and running hoses in their mouths, she said." They also were hit on the heads with toasters.
At Karenga's trial, the question arose as to Karenga's sanity. It is theorized that Karenga may have had a mental breakdown due to the stress of dealing with the violence and murders surrounding his United Slaves (US) organization and the Black Panther Party (BPP). His behavior became bizarre. And, at his trial, a psychiatrist's report stated the following: "This man now represents a picture that can be considered both paranoid and schizophrenic with hallucinations and illusions, inappropriate affect, disorganization, and impaired contact with the environment."
Kwanza is never never land b.s.
Merry CHRISTMAS.
Who can post the pictures of the vise, Drano, pliers and electrical wire?
Does anyone know where I can pick up a "Happy Kwanzaa" soldering iron?
equal time for Festivus!
Kwanzaa is a secret code word for radical islam...cna't you just feel the love?
Festivus!
Yeah, that's the key...Festivus for the Restivus.
The bs kwnazaa gets promoted by anti Christmas white liberals as a tactical move in their anti- Xmas strategy.
They hope to wean blacks off Christmas by substituting kwazaa, and thus weaken the pro- christmas coalition.
Once weakened by loss of black support, goodbye creches, trees, pageants etc..
Karenga's doctrine sounds like a reiteration of the African socialism that was such a hot thing in the 1960's. African-Americans' veneration of all things Marxist is a mistake on their part.
Kwanzaa cultists can trace their Kwanzaa heritage back 40 years! Wow! That's back when everyone in California was on a continuous LSD trip. We really need a creepy holiday commemorating that.
Kwanzaa, a fake celebration made up by a convicted thug that tortured women.
Christmas: Values over blood.
Unfortunately, Black chr*stians have never been part of the social conservative coalition. They never seem to be heard from on evolution, abortion, homosexuality, etc., choosing instead to focus almost exclusively on economic issues--ironically, just like the social Darwinist libertarians.
Horse Hockey.
Notice that the MSM prints these stories about Kwanzaa, but not anyone celebrating it? It's because no one but the MSM celebrates this phoney ****day!!
(I won't dignify this by putting "holi" in front of "day").
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.