Nana King, in defining his first practice of service, phrases it as “trying to love somebody,” which is a linking of two of the central pillars in his self-understanding and self-assertion in the world.
On the day of April 4th, this Day of Sacrifice, this day of the martyrdom and assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we gather together to raise up and pay rightful homage to him, his life and legacy.
Now the liberational and expansive concept of Nana Ida B. Wells’ “womanly woman” and her mission and meaning begin with a critical questioning. She asks, “What is or should be woman?”
This offering is in rightful homage and deep appreciation, not only for Nana Ida B. Wells-Barnett, but also for the awesome and audacious women of Us, the Malaika and Matamba, the Simba and Senut who created and put forth in thought, dialog, discourse and practice what we now call Kawaida womanism.
It is a fundamental tenet of Kawaida philosophy that practice proves and makes possible everything, that is to say, practice brings it into being, makes it real, relevant and worthy of the name and quality it claims, whether it is love or life, parenting or peace, teaching or learning, art or ethics, science, religion or righteous resistance.
Indeed, the essential and ongoing conversation with our history is at the same time a continuing conversation with our culture, a constant search for ever more expansive and enriching ways to be African women and men in the world.
The global struggle to secure the exoneration of the Honorable Marcus Garvey is an urgent and compelling one.
This year and month marks the 57th anniversary of the assassination and martyrdom of El Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, Nana Minister Malcolm X, who offered and gave his life in the sacred and sustained struggle of his people for liberation and an uplifted life.
This year’s Black History Month theme, “Black Health and Wellness,” opens space for us to call into focus our self-determined and self-sustaining ways of knowing, working and struggling to achieve, protect, promote and sustain our health, health care and healing in a society which is the source of so much of our preventable sickness, needless suffering, and underserved deaths. And thus arises the undeniable need for righteous and relentless struggle, not only to achieve justice and end oppression, but also to achieve a comprehensive radical racial healing.
The ancient African ethical imperative of serudj ta, to repair, renew and remake the world, remains as relevant today and perhaps more urgent for us and all human beings, given the times in which we now live and the damage, devastation and dangers we sense and see all around us.
In the midst of our rightful celebration of the life and legacy of Nana Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., it is important to note that no honor is more important, no action more essential than reclaiming his life and legacy as our own as a people.
This is a revisiting and rereading of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life, work and legacy, and another attempt to extract from the enduring relevance of his insight and experiences, lessons by which we can better live our lives, do our work and wage our righteous and relentless struggle for good in the world.
We honor Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu in his name and work, as honored priest and prophet of his faith; self-giving servant of his people; theologian who placed the well-being of the world at the center of his thought and practice.
Kwanzaa is a time of celebration, remembrance, reflection and recommitment. It requires these practices throughout the holiday. But the last day of Kwanzaa is dedicated to deep reflection, meditation on the meaning and measure of being African and how this is understood and asserted for good in the world in essential, uplifting and transformative ways.
Heri za Kwanzaa. Happy Kwanzaa to African people everywhere throughout the world African community. We bring and send you Kwanzaa greetings of celebration, solidarity and continued struggle for a shared good in the world. And in the words and way of our ancestors, we wish for you all things good, pure and beautiful, all the good that heaven grants, the earth produces and the waters bring forth from their depths. Hotep. Ashe. Heri.