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.
Each year at Kwanzaa we celebrate the good in and of the world. We celebrate the good of family, community and culture; the good hoped for and harvested, achieved and enjoyed, worked for, witnessed and brought to fruition.
Our waiting for and finally hearing the verdict in the trial of the three murderers of Ahmaud Arbery, like that with George Floyd, compelled us to ride a roller coaster of mixed emotions, from relief and rejoicing to reflection and recommitment, and always, whether evident or just below the surface, a righteous anger and sadness at the evil and injustice committed.
In the midst of the pandemic of Covid 19 and the continuing pathology of oppression, there has emerged an epidemic of racist reactions to the truth of the real founding and functioning of the United States of America.
Those of us who still wage righteous and relentless struggle inwardly and outwardly to live a liberated, good and meaningful life will continuously find invaluable sources for grounding and growth in the enduringly relevant and deeply insightful sacred teachings of our ancestors found in the Odu Ifa.
The meaning and mission of manhood, especially Black manhood, is an ancient and ongoing question, for it is not only about a presence, but also about a process and practice, and not only about just being, but also about constantly becoming. In a word, it is about ever striving and struggling to be our best and come into the fullness of ourselves as men, African men and human beings.
Her faith taught her to believe in the eventual triumph of change for the good
It was 26 years ago, October 16, 1995, that we stood firmly together, 2 million plus strong in Washington, D.C. Called to action by Min. Louis Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam and the critical juncture and demands of our history, we declared our commitment to assume a new and expanded responsibility in life, love and struggle. Below follows an excerpt from the Million Man March/Day of Absence Mission Statement focusing on the shared responsibility of Black men and women in holding themselves responsible, as well as the government and corporate world, and raising issues insightfully and compelling current.
The U.S. must stop imposing on Haiti its imperialist system of domination, deprivation and degradation
As we of the Organization Us closeout a month-long celebration of our 56th anniversary, I want to reshare with you an article I previously wrote concerning the praise and practice of freedom. For it is in the five broad areas of our liberation struggle, i.e., education, mobilization, organization, confrontation and transformation, that freedom is liberating and liberated ground on which we stand.
Again, in our continuing celebration and assessment of our 56 years and 224 seasons of work, service, struggle and institution-building as the organization Us, we are ultimately and unavoidably led to Kawaida philosophy.
In celebrating our organization Us’ 56 years and 224 seasons of service, work, struggle and institution-building, we are inevitably and unavoidably led to the Nguzo Saba, the Seven Principles of Kawaida philosophy and Kwanzaa.
We of the organization Us have stayed standing and steadfast, weathered all kinds of storms and wrought various varieties of good for fifty-six years and 224 seasons, striving and struggling mightily to honor the African moral imperative and social mission to bring and sustain good in the world.
We cannot talk about this Republican recall in isolation from the continuing history of vote and voter suppression