About Me
Over Anything Else Said On This Page -- REMEMBER THIS:
Truth
Harmony
Balance
Order
Peace
Love
Happiness
Food
Clothing
Shelter
Freedom
Justice
Equality
Knowledge
Wisdom
and Understanding
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
Note to our beloved community:
Kwanzaa was not created to give people an alternative to their own religion or religious holiday(s). In fact, Kwanzaa is not a holiday at all. Kwanzaa is an observance and a mind-state, that has 7 key cultural imperatives, which will only help and not harm us, as a global community (the African diaspora). They are 7 principles that we can all agree on and unify around, regardless of our beliefs, social status, age, organizaton, affiliation or sex.
Kwanzaa was not created for anything, other than to give our people an easy program to utilize in educating, training and teaching our children and to apply within ourselves YEAR-ROUND, which is an immediate change. We hold the Pre-Kwanzaa to raise awareness and we observe the 7 days of Kwanzaa as an act of unity and as a program, which brings ALL African people together, regardless of nationality, place of birth or religion. UNITY is the KEY as we look to practice these principles EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR, culminating in 7 days of Harvest or Ceremony, where we reflect on the benefits, which we have reaped from the seeds we sewed.
Imani (Faith) - Opening and Drum Call
By: The Suwabi African Drummers and Suwabi African Ballet
To believe with all our hearts in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of their/our struggles.
Umoja (Unity) - The Call for Solidarity
By: The Students of Minds About Progress
To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race.
Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) - Educating Our Children, Navigating the School System and Building an African-Centered Curriculum
By: Latif Tarik (Grade School Teacher)
To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves.
Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility) - Building Balanced Relationships and Assessing the Black Health Crisis
By: Mwalimu Baruti (Author) and Jamal Robinson (CEO of Herbal Market)
To build and maintain our community together and make our brother's and sister's problems our problems and to solve them together.
Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics) - The 1st Annual Ujamaa African Book Fair!!
W/ Various Authors, Artists and Presenters on Independent Publishing
To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together.
Nia (Purpose) - Building A New Civilization
By: Hakim Bey and Dr. Nettles Bey the Dogon
To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
Kuumba (Creativity) - African Dance, Drumming, Martial Arts; Spoken Word and Music
By: Suwabi African Ballet and Red Dragon Martial Arts
To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
P.ostive E.nergy A.chieves C.onstant E.levation
PEACE!
"Ladies and Gentlemen, young girls and boys, distinguished guests in the audience and on the dais, this is surely a historic moment of marking and joyful celebration and I certainly view it with joyful satisfaction for my role in it. But in a larger sense, this historic moment belongs to all who made it possible. Indeed, in African tradition, we are taught that we should never claim solitary achievement. Not because we do not have and demonstrate personal initiative and creativity, but because we realize that in a real and profound sense all that we do bears the clear imprint of those who have touched and contributed to our lives and to each project we engage in in meaningful and decisive ways."
"This is the real meaning of Fannie Lou Hamer's teaching on the morality of memory when she says there are two things we all should care about and be attentive to "never to forget where we came from and always praise the bridges that carried us over."
"The honor belongs also to those of the world African community who saw in Kwanzaa a message of profound meaning and beauty, and embraced and practiced it. And it belongs to the ancestors who gave us the most ancient of cultures, one endlessly rich and varied in its models of excellence and possibilities and who speak across the ages"
"Surely humans have been chosen to bring good in the world"~ Odu of Ifa, Yorubaland
'We must come forward each day and bring forth the truth that is within each of us...Doing good is not difficult, in fact, just speaking good is a monument for those who do it. For those who do good for others actually and also doing it for themselves.'~The Husia, Egypt
"In creating Kwanzaa, I have tried to honor this ancient African teaching that the fundamental meaning and mission of human life is to constantly bring good into the world and that this good is always a shared good, a good which enriches those who give it as well as those who receive it."
"As an African American and Pan-African holiday celebrated by millions throughout the world African community, Kwanzaa brings a cultural message which is both particularly African and definitively human. In a word, it speaks to the best of what it means to be both African and human in its stress on the dignity of the human person, the well-being of family and community, the integrity of the environment and our kinship with it and the rich resource and meaning of a people's culture."
"As a particular expression of being African in the world, Kwanzaa speaks our special cultural truth to the world and thus offers a significant contribution to defining and teaching appreciation for valuable and differing ways of being human in the world. Certainly, there is value both for the world African community and humanity as a whole in Kwanzaa's five fundamental kinds of activities: harmonious ingathering of the people, special reverence for the Creator and Creation; reflective commemoration of the past; profound recommitment to our highest cultural ideals; and joyous celebration of the Good."
"Likewise, the Nguzo Saba (The Seven Principles) of Kwanzaa have a particular and universal value and meaning in their call for thoughtful and practical commitment to: Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (Self-Determination); Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility), Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics), Nia (Purpose), Kuumba (Creativity), and Imani (Faith)."
"On the last day of Kwanzaa, Imani which we also call the Day of Meditation, we ask ourselves three questions which Kawaida philosophy says everyone must ask themselves: who am I, am I really who I am and am I all I ought to be? In our constant quest to become and be the best of what it means to be both African and human at the same time, Kwanzaa offers an important context for reassessment and recommitment to values and practices which lead to this."
