But Shawn, we can trade anecdotes all day. I live in the same metro area as you, work with many black folks from all over the country, and no one’s done anything at all for Kwanzaa. The Kwanzaa celebrations you attended might have been the highest-profile Kwanzaa celebrations in the city … and yet they are attended by so few.
Of the black folks you run into every day, seek out a sample of folks over 40 and ask them about how Kwanzaa was celebrated when they were youngsters.
How come wikipedia doesn’t have a bloody “wooosh” entry ?!
Tell me about it - but that’s nothing. I’ve just learned today, on this very board (well, in the Pit actually), that Dr. Dre was not a licensed practitionner of medicine. I have no idea why the guy isn’t buried up to his neck in malpractice lawsuits, since apparently the fact is common knowledge in some circles.
Kwanzaa sometimes gets a mention in the newspaper here, about as often as a mention of Hannakuh or ‘Christmas Customs in Other Lands’. That is, there will be every so often an in-depth article on a local family that actually does celebrate Kwanzaa, complete with photographs and a detailed explanation of what they do every day, the foods they prepare, and what it all means. (The family is always middle class and respectable; they are ‘into’ Africana, wear dashikis, have African masks and such decorating their homes. They resemble the Cosbys - smart, educated parents who raise their children with a stern but loving hand, attend church every single Sunday, sing in the church choir, don’t allow any black street stuff ,
perfect black models enjoying their Kwanzaa.)
I have never, ever seen or heard anything about Kwanzaa around here, outside of reading these articles.
Forgot to say, it would be helpful to see if people celebrated it if they decorated their houses with, let’s say, orange and green lights.
I have the sense Kwanzaa is celebrated mostly right where you’ve found it: grade schoolers from largely black elementary schools learning about their African heritage through a holiday that (to my mind) is perfect for grade-school level thought. Given how lousily the countries in Africa have been able to actually implement the Kwanzaa ideals Mr Karenga apparently finds so evident, any lasting extension outside the school yard perimeter seems less likely. I think Kwanzaa is doomed to have Real Life render it farcical.
“…African heritage…”
A mud hut, a pointed stick, and a lion-tail shoo-fly?
How big does Kwanzaa have to be for it to satisfy you? If a few people want to celebrate it, what’s the harm? Should we discount Hannukah because it’s not as celebrated as Christmas in the United States?
And sure, we could trade anecdotes all day, but where’s the hard data from the other side? I don’t remember a time when Kwanzaa was all “made up to be some big deal” and now it’s all dying out for some reason. I just remember it being celebrated by African-Americans who wanted to celebrate it. Big whoop. What’s the harm? Does every holiday celebration have to be on par with Christmas in order to be a genuine holiday? That seems rather arbitrary. If they want to celebrate it, let them celebrate it. It just seems like people in this debate are saying “oh, it doesn’t jibe with my belief system, therefore it is lame.” There must be some market for those Kwanzaa cards at Walgreens.
mhendo–heh. But I was half-whooshed for a moment there, myself.
And just because I’m a little pedantic–please note that I didn’t say that Hallmark had invented Mother’s Day. They didn’t. But they were a major force in driving its widespread adoption.
And what does all that have to do with the price of Kente cloth?
I don’t think anybody’s saying that people shouldn’t do what they wish in their own homes. Or that they shouldn’t hold public celebrations of Kwanzaa if that’s what people want.
The question, to me, seems to be "Are we just paying lip-service to Kwanzaa because it’s politically correct? Or is it something that many people genuinely care about?
The fact that there are Kwanzaa cards at Walgreens means nothing. Generally, yes, if something is present in stores, it means that people are buying it. But stores like Walgreens do make certain decisions on a CYA basis. Wasting a few boxes of cards per year might seem like a better idea than potentially exposing themselves to bad publicity. And of the cards that are sold–we don’t know how many of them are sold to people (or for people) who genuinely care about Kwanzaa or if they are sold to people who think they ought to send them.
I actually think that the comparison of Kwanzaa with Hannukah is very useful. Someone much more versed in Jewish theology and past tradition can explain this better than I can, but Hanukkah was never a major Jewish holiday. It was a “real” holiday, of course, but a minor one. But American Jews felt the need for an alternative to Christmas–maybe subconsciously, but still. Hanukkah was around the right time of year and it was a joyous-type holiday and it had some nice symbols and stuff. Perfect! So it grew and changed and now we have Hanukkah as we know it. People want it. They celebrate it. They buy the wrapping paper. Hanukkah is not totally invented like Kwanzaa, but it is a largely artificial, and relatively recent, construction. But nobody’s asking if our American version of Hanukkah is “over,” because there is no question that it’s not.