It’s at the point now where Kwanzaa gets treated as more or less a mainstream holiday by the media and just by pop culture in general - “Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy Kwanzaa!” and whatnot. I hear so much about it every year. But I’ve never actually met anyone who celebrated it. Or should I say, who I *knew *to celebrate it.
Almost all the blacks I know identify as Christian, mostly Episcopal. The rest are Muslim. These people aren’t celebrating Kwanzaa, right? They’re celebrating Christmas or observing the Islamic holy days.
I kind of get the impression, just given the basic information that I know about the holiday’s origins and the time period that it originated in (the 60s) that Kwanzaa was created by black radicals as an alternative to Christmas, which is a European (white) holiday and therefore should not have significance to blacks.
The Wikipedia entry on it states:
So it seems like maybe it was originally created as a black alternative to Christmas but maybe now has turned into a holiday celebrated by blacks in addition to Christmas. Is this true?
I’m not making a judgment here - I mean, all holidays were “invented” at some point and if it brings people closer together and lets them have a good time, then it’s a good thing whether it was created in the 60s or in ancient times. But it seems like for all the exposure that Kwanzaa gets, I never hear about anyone celebrating it.
Are there any black people here who celebrate Kwanzaa? If so, do you celebrate it alone or in addition to Christmas? Were you raised with the tradition of Kwanzaa? Do you celebrate it with your immediate family only, or with your extended family? And what are some of the traditional foods, activities, or songs that are part of the celebration?
Here locally in Springfield, IL (about 15% black), there are Kwanzaa celebrations here and there every December. Judging by the photos in the local rag, they’re pretty sparsely attended.
Most of the blacks I know self-identify as Christian, and Kwanzaa isn’t on their radar.
I’ve wondered about this myself. Every year there will be a news story about Kwanzaa here and there will be footage from Malcolm X College in Chicago about people celebrating it. All of about 25 of them.
About a hundred people in Berkley celebrate it, that’s about it, but the media is too afraid to not give it attention for fear of charges of racism, therefore every newspaper and TV outlet in the country is obligated to find the one black family in the area who celebrates it and devote coverage to them. Why someone felt the need to create a race based holiday is beyond me, when Christmas and Hannukah are religion based- what’s next, black Jews coming up with an afro-centric alternative to Hannukah?
I think it’s more of a culture based holiday (hodge podge of African cultural traditions) than a race based one. It just so happens that Africa is predominantly black. And to the extent that those cultures have their own religious origins, it’s certainly as religious as things like Santa Claus are.
That said, I don’t personally know anyone who celebrates. It seems like a neat tradition so if I did know anyone, I wouldn’t mind being invited and seeing what it’s all about…
I always see Kwanzaa greeting cards for sale in stores in December. They keep stocking them, so someone must be buying them. They can’t ALL be sold as gag gifts.
If it’s not being celebrated by more than a few thousand people at most, how long can Kwanzaa last? Is the number of people celebrating it growing over time? I know it takes time to establish new traditions, but the interest has to be there too.
I think the big mistake was trying to make it a replacement for Christmas instead of its own separate thing. If it were held during a less holiday-intensive time of year and didn’t come off like “Made-Up Black Christmas” (which I’m not saying it is, but I think that’s a common perception) it probably would be more popular and well-understood.
IOW: According to everything I’ve read, they’re not mutually exclusive, so being Christian shouldn’t preclude Kwanzaa, but apparently, it does preclude Kwanzaa.
OTOH, there’s another possibility, namely, that Kwanzaa is largely uncelebrated for reasons other than a percieved conflict with Christmas. I could speculate on what those other reasons are, but being a white Jew I really don’t feel qualified.
Should you be interested in making Kwanzaa even more succesful, donations are welcome and the website tells you how to get them there. In the interest of equal opportunity I can give you an address where you send a donation which I will use to help make Christmas more successful…at least for the Pedant home. Let me know.
According to the follwing excerpt from the creator of it via Wikiepdia, it is supposed to be an alternative, not an adjunct, to Christams/Hannukah, etc:
“…it 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 Kwanzaa is celebrated during the holiday rush (remember that the Muslim Hajj occurs in December this year), it is commonly perceived as another holiday, separate from Christmas or Hanukah. This might not be what is currently taught but it is the perception. None of my African-American friends or coworkers celebrate it. In fact, my coworker from Nigeria thinks it is a load of made up garbage.
What Kwanzaa needs is a secular personification in order to popularize it. Christmas has Santa Claus. And who could forget Hanukah Harry? AOL Video - Serving the best video content from AOL and around the web - AOL.com We need to come up with somebody that could be plastered on cards and presents, maybe make a Rankin Bass stop motion holiday special about them. Maybe an African woman with a regal bearing, wearing a Senegalese style Bubu and head gear.
You might want to read the whole OP. According to the passages quoted there, which include the one you cited plus some that bring the matter up to date, make that was, not “is.”
I thought about that, but they are pretty much a Methodist church. The “Episcopal” in their name refers to their system of polity (e.g. they have bishops), but their theology is thoroughly Methodist.
In girl scouts as a kid we’d do a multi-cultural holiday thing in December where we “celebrated” Christmas, Hannukah, and Kwanzaa. (This included lots of craft projects like making dreidels and Kwanzaa candles and stuff)
I remember thinking it was a lot like Hannukah, with the candle-lighting and all (it’s like a multi-colored menorah and each candle is supposed to represent a different quality, like hard work or trustworthiness or something).
But anyway, I guess you could say I celebrated it before. I don’t know anyone who actually celebrates it now.
We need to come up with somebody that could be plastered on cards and presents, maybe make a Rankin Bass stop motion holiday special about them. Maybe an African woman with a regal bearing, wearing a Senegalese style Bubu and head gear.