Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Truth about Kwanzaa

Here I go, getting myself in trouble again, but sometimes you gotta' do what you gotta' do!

I have had several e-mails from people who have asked me why I did a post on Christmas and Hannukah, but I didn't do one on Kwanzaa, and they wanted to know why.

Well here's my answer...

I am a born-again, evangelical Christian. Christmas is the commemoration of the birthday of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Hannukah is a celebration of overcoming tyranny and experiencing a miracle. It is also a holiday in our Holy Bible celebrated by Jesus. It is the Feast of Dedication spoke of in John 10:22.

Kwanzaa, is a black-oriented holiday invented in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga. On September 17, 1971, this same man was handed one to ten years in prison because of charges filed in 1970 where Karenga and two of his cohorts tortured two women that he accused of trying to kill him.

Karenga beat the women with an electrical cord and a karate baton after ordering them to strip naked. The one woman had a hot soldering iron put in her mouth and palced against her face. That not being sufficient torture, Kurenga also put detergent and running hoses in their mouths.

But ya' know who am I to throw stones...we all make mistakes...rightttttt!

Initially Kwanzaa developed because Karenga held a hostility toward Western religion. he wrote in his 1980 book, Kawaida Theory, "denies and diminishes human worth, capacity, potential and achievement. In Christian and Jewish mythology, humans are born in sin, cursed with mythical ancestors who've sinned and brought the wrath of an angry God on every generation's head."

He similarly opposed belief in God and other "spooks who threaten us if we don't worship them and demand we turn over our destiny and daily lives." Thus, Karenga explained in his 1977 Kwanzaa: Origin, Concepts, Practice, "Kwanzaa is not an imitation, but an alternative, in fact, an oppositional alternative to the spookism, mysticism and non-earth based practices which plague us as a people and encourage our withdrawal from social life rather than our bold confrontation with it."

The holiday "was chosen to give a Black alternative to the existing holiday and give Blacks an opportunity to celebrate themselves and history rather than simply imitate the practice of the dominant society."

Since then, the holiday has gained mainstream adherents, and Karenga has altered its justification so as not to alienate practicing Christians: "Kwanzaa was not created to give people an alternative to their own religion or religious holiday," he writes in Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community, and Culture, published in 1997.

So, would I as a black, american, Christain woman celebrate this, this Kwanzaa...not with a ten foot pole!

I know there will be people out there who get riled up by my comments.

If you have a nasty opinion of my commentary, keep them to yourselves!

12 Comments:

  1. Mindy Tarquini said...
    Wow. Thanks for the history lesson.
    Denise McDonald said...
    I never knew any of that - it's so interesting - thanks for sharing!
    An Ordinary Christian said...
    No nasty comments from me - speak it woman! And let loose those facts! I love it.
    Live, Love, Laugh said...
    Wow Bonnie, I had no idea! Great post, very informative and as Ordinary said, Preach on!!
    Bernita said...
    Bonnie, you are absolutely superb.
    Depth, insight, context, truth.
    Anonymous said...
    It is great to hear you say this. I respect every cultures right to celebrate holidays and traditions, but Kwanzaa is completely ficticious. I love myth that it is a holiday derived from Africa. It has never existed in Africa.
    Shelley L. MacKenzie said...
    I had no idea what Kwanzaa was about. Thanks for the informative post and God bless!
    An Ordinary Christian said...
    Okay, what's next for this day? What do you have to say for us? We are waiting patiently. Okay then. I will suggest a topic, a question if you will. Are you very good at editing writing, grammar, punctuation and does certain types of writing styles (or lack thereof) bother you? Also, do you write many "Letters to the Editor"? Maybe you should send in this post about Kwanzza to the New York Times.
    Jennifer said...
    Wow, Bonnie, I had no idea. Thank you so much for informing me!
    ~Jennifer said...
    See, now this is why I keep reading blogs. I learn something new every day. Thank you!
    Demi said...
    Very enlightening! Great job! I never knew about this. Like you, we annually celebrate Christmas and I don't really care about Kwanzaa due to the fact that I don't have any idea about it.
    Ellen Molina said...
    A lot of people are not aware that Kwanzaa is considered to be a special event because the holidays not actually popular. Maybe in their place they are really aware of it.

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