The True Spirit of Kwanzaa

The New American ^ | December 20, 1999 | William Norman Grigg

[Apollo]

Among Bill Clinton’s numerous despicable distinctions is the fact that he is the first occupant of the Oval Office to extend official recognition to the ersatz holiday called "Kwanzaa," a seven-day annual "African" festival that runs from December 26th to New Year’s Day. Mr. Clinton has described Kwanzaa as "a vibrant celebration of African culture" that "transcends international boundaries … link[ing] diverse individuals in a unique celebration of a dynamic heritage." In fact, Kwanzaa is a product of violent black separatism, and it was designed to foment insularity and a sense of racial grievance.

The founder of Kwanzaa is a petty criminal named Ronald Everett, alias Ron Karenga. In the mid-1960s, Everett created a Los Angeles-based black militant group called United Slaves (US) for the purpose of igniting a "cultural revolution" among American blacks. Toward that end he created Kwanzaa (named after a Swahili term for "first fruits") as a way of evangelizing on behalf of his revolution. In his book Kwanzaa: Origins, Concepts, Practice, "Karenga" claims that the spurious holiday offers blacks "an opportunity to celebrate themselves and history rather than simply imitate the practice of the dominant society."

However, "Karenga’s" so-called Nguzo Saba (seven principles) for his "new black value system" are little more than Marxism transposed into an afrocentric key: Umoja (unity); Kujichagulia (self-determination), which, according to "Karenga," refers to afrocentricity; Ujima (collective work and responsibility); Ujamaa (cooperative economics), which "Karenga" describes as "essentially a commitment to the practice of shared social wealth"; Nia (purpose), which refers to "collective vocation" for black people; Kuumba (creativity); and Imani (faith).

To provide a tangible symbol of his seven principles, "Karenga" appropriated the menorah from Judaism, adorning it in Kwanzaa’s seasonal colors (red, black, and green) and re-christening it the "kinara." No Kwanzaa celebration is complete without the recitation of the Kwanzaa pledge: "We pledge allegiance to the red, black, and green, our flag, the symbol of our eternal struggle, and to the land we must obtain; one nation of black people, with one God of us all, totally united in the struggle, for black love, black freedom, and black self-determination."

This is the stuff of parody; it is a photographic negative of the rites conducted by bedsheet-bedecked white supremacists who cavort around burning crosses, or neo-Nazis who offer oblations to their pagan deity Odin. Yet "Karenga" and his black nationalist holiday have been eagerly embraced by the apostles of multiculturalism and tolerance. In his presidential messages commemorating Kwanzaa, Bill Clinton has stated that "Karenga’s" seven principles "ring true not only for African Americans, but also for all Americans … bring[ing] new purpose to our daily lives." In recent years the mainstreaming of Kwanzaa has proceeded at an astonishing pace. The U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp in 1997, and the Smithsonian Institution sponsors an annual celebration.

Christian activist Carlotta Morrow, whose sister was lured into "Karenga’s" United Slaves organization in the 1970s, is much less enchanted with the observance, describing its message as "anti-Christian, anti-Jewish, and black separatist" in nature. To the extent that the holiday bears the impress of its creator, it should also be seen as a celebration of depravity and violence.

On several occasions, factional quarrels between "Karenga’s" US organization and the Black Panthers erupted into open gunplay, which resulted in the death of several people.

In 1970, "Karenga" and two of his followers were arrested and charged with conspiracy and assault in the torture of Deborah Jones and Gail Davis, two of his female followers. Believing that the women had tried to poison him, "Karenga" forced the women to disrobe at gunpoint and had them beaten. "Vietnamese torture is nothing compared to what I know," he informed his victims, whereupon he forced a hot soldering iron into the mouth of one while the other had a toe squeezed in a vice. Both women were also forced to consume detergent and a caustic liquid as part of their "discipline."

According to the July 27, 1971 Los Angeles Times, a psychological profile of "Karenga" described him "as a danger to society who is in need of prolonged custodial treatment in prison." The profile noted that "Karenga," while legally sane, was "confused and not in contact with reality." Neither his criminal record nor his insuperable difficulties with reality has impeded "Karenga’s" career prospects, however: He is presently professor and chair of the department of Black Studies at California State University-Long Beach.

While some might consider Ron "Karenga’s" implausible triumph to be an illustration of P.T. Barnum’s axiom regarding human gullibility, there is something much worse than foolishness at work. Kwanzaa offers a potent illustration of Communist theoretician Antonio Gramsci’s strategy for overthrowing Western society by conducting a "long march through the institutions" of culture, including educational and religious institutions. It is this urge to destroy and defile our Western patrimony that represents the true spirit of Kwanzaa.

[Slyfox]

The popularity of Kwanzaa can be best determined by the sale of stamps at the post office.

The Virgin Mary has Kwanzaa beat out by a mile.

[RaceBannon]

For your education

[Scythian]

Anyone notice how "militant" the previews for "Ali" are? Or how "militant" Will Smith was during that benefit concert when he was with the real Ali on state?

[Scythian]

stage

[ValenB4]

I can't be the only one to think it both ironic, and appropriate, that Kwanzaa means "first fruits".

[Spiff]

Oh goody - another Kwanzaa thread. Another excuse for me to post my KounterKwanzaa Link List. Read it and add your own links.

Kwanzaa Links

We Wish You A Phony Festival - Report (Canadian Magazine)

So This Is Kwanzaa - Newsmax.com

Ann Coulter on Kwanzaa - TownHall.Com

Mona Charen on Kwanzaa - Jewish World Review

Tony Snow on Kwanzaa - Jewish World Review

The TRUE Spirit of Kwanzaa - The New American magazine

The Story of Kwanzaa - The Dartmouth Review

The Truth About Kwanzaa - A Christian Viewpoint

A Momentary Loss of Reason - Binghamton Review

Kwanzaa & The White House - NY Post Editorial, 1997 (Freerepublic.com thread)

Michael Savage on Kwanzaa - NewsMax

Ron Karenga - Dialog from the Black Radical Congress - December 1999

Happy Kwanzaa - FrontPage Magazine - Link may not work, if it doesn't click here for the Free Republic thread.

I'm Dreaming of a White Kwanzaa - LewRockwell.com - Link may not work, if it doesn't click here for the Free Republic thread.

Letter to Editor - Ypsilanti Courier

What is Kwanzaa? - File Passed Around On Internet About Kwanzaa

Happy Kwanzaa by Patrick S. Poole

Ron Everett (aka. Maulana Karenga) / US Links

The Black Panthers and the Police: A Pattern of Genocide? - NEW YORKER MAGAZINE - February 13, 1971 (Includes great detail of the murders committed by Karenga's thugs)

PBS Interview with black radical Ron Everett (aka Maulana Karenga) - the guy that invented Kwanzaa while in prison for torturing two young women

US, the organization the Ron Everett founded in 1965, the organization that murdered 5 members of the rival Black Panther Party, is back - well it was back in 1995, but they haven't updated their website since then. Their website is here.

Afrocentrism Links

Clarence Walker Encourages Black Americans to Discard Afrocentrism

Pride & Prejudice by Dinesh D'Souza, Vol. 6, American Enterprise, 09-01-1995, pp 51 (Google Cached Version)

Fighting Fiction With Fact by Mary Lefkowitz (Google Cached Version)

Fallacies of Afrocentrism - Grover Furr

The Skeptics Dictionary - Afrocentrism

The Skeptics Dictionary Review of Mary Lefkowitz' Book "Not Out Of Africa"

Review of Mary Lefkowitz' Books on Afrocentrism Myth "Not Out Of Africa" and "Black Athena Revisited"

The Trap of Ethnic Identity - New York Times - Jan 1997

AFROCENTRISM The Argument We're Really Having

[Hila]

One more unholy holiday.

[mafree]

Kwanzaa offers a potent illustration of Communist theoretician Antonio Gramsci’s strategy for overthrowing Western society by conducting a "long march through the institutions" of culture, including educational and religious institutions. It is this urge to destroy and defile our Western patrimony that represents the true spirit of Kwanzaa.

Thanks for the flag Race.

Kwanzaa's got a looonnnggg way to go before it can pull this off.

(Going to bed finally- will be back later)

[rockfish59]

but the cards look..... so nice....
and 'happy'!

[HiTech RedNeck]

Kwanzaa is doubtless intended to exalt, but does it really succeed mostly in bringing belittlement? The obvious answer is yes. If there were a Eurocentric "holiday" like this, most of the black people in America would be screaming their heads off about this foolishness, and rightly so. But white people restrict themselves at most to politely snickering under their breath (except in rare places like Free Republic where people can sound off about almost any topic they wish). That spells C-O-N-D-E-S-C-E-N-S-I-O-N.

[RaceBannon]

Well, not that Kwanzaa ia the only thing doing this, and, it was probably just one leftist idea, it is just part of the extreme leftist path being forced on America, in a way meant to divide the races and create hostility, one of the stated Communist goals in many countries.

[shortstop]

FESTIVUS-for the rest of us.

[AppyPappy]

"We pledge allegiance to the red, White, and blue, our flag, the symbol of our eternal struggle, and to the land we must obtain; one nation of White people, with one God of us all, totally united in the struggle, for White love, White freedom, and White self-determination."

[Tuscaloosa Goldfinch]

I kid you not, my 9 y.o. daughter just came in and asked me "What's Kwanzaa? Why don't we do it?" And she was born in Russia. Sheesh. (FWIW, she was homeschooled for 3 years and now attends a private school. TV. That's where she heard it.)