Does anyone know the history around kwanzaa? Are its roots in some form of African religion or is it strictly an African American concept to celebrate afrocentrism?

What does it mean and does it represent one specific country or culture in Africa or is it a philosophical/social event that only takes place in America by some African Americans?

Is it like St. Patrick's Day?

Where is it usually and how is it practiced?

What do the rituals mean?

Peace!

Brother PANTHA, thank you for the web links. I've surfed them and found them to answer my questions and then some. They are extremely interesting and packed with information. I don't have new questions as this time, but I think we should keep visiting this topic because of its philosophical and real importance to our conscious raising.

Thank you :heart:

I think NN Queen is going to know more about PanAfricanism than I do at the rate she is going.:)

I was for Kwanzaa untill I found out that Dr. Marlena Karenga was an FBI agent.

I was for Kwanzaa untill I found out that Dr. Marlena Karenga was an FBI agent.
Pharaoh Jahil do you still hold this position? What are your sources? :weights:

I was for Kwanzaa untill I found out that Dr. Marlena Karenga was an FBI agent.

I also heard some very disturbing things about him, I'll try to find the links. Here is one I also read he was an FBI informer.

dartreview.com/issues/1.15.01/kwanzaa.html

The founder of Kwanzaa, Ron Everett, a.k.a. Maulana Ron Karenga, stood at the forefront of the black power movement in the 1960s. Karenga distinguished himself as a "cultural nationalist" as opposed to a traditional Marxist. In 1965 Karenga founded the United Slaves Organization (US), a group that would rival the Black Panthers on the UCLA campus. The US was more radical than the Panthers, setting off quarrels between the two.

The biggest dispute between the US and the Panthers centered around the leadership of the new Afro-American Studies department at UCLA; both groups backed a different candidate. On January 17, 1969, 150 students gathered to discuss the situation. Panthers John Jerome Huggins and Alprentice Carter used the meeting to verbally attack Karenga, much to the dismay of his followers. Two US members, George and Larry Stiner, confronted Huggins and Carter in a hallway after the meeting and shot and killed them.

I won’t try to defend the virtues Dr. Maulana Karenga, but we must be very, very careful as we comb through the historical events of that time. The U.S. counter intelligence program (COINTELPRO) and their agent provocateurs were very busy and Black people were not prepared to deal with the destabilizing billion-dollar onslaught of the federal government.

But, for everyone who recognizes Kwanzaa, the Kawaida Theory, by Dr. Maulana Karenga is a must read, this is the book that introduced Kwanzaa’s 7 principles.

Peace

I was for Kwanzaa untill I found out that Dr. Marlena Karenga was an FBI agent.
The Story of Kwanzaa

On December 26, 1966 Ron Karenga and his family and friends lit the Unity candle, the Umoja candle, and commenced the first Kwanzaa.

Kwanzaa has only gained popularity since. On December 24, 1971 the New York Times ran their first article covering the festival, and recently the Postal Service released a Kwanzaa stamp. Hallmark, too, has begun to market the holiday.

Seven principles--one for each day of the feast--guide the celebration: Umoja, Kujichagulia, Ujima, Ujamaa, Nia, Kuumba, and Imani. In English, the principles are unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith. Today, the holiday does not serve as a replacement for religious holidays, although it may, but rather is a secular event aimed at encouraging American blacks to remember their African roots.

The founder of Kwanzaa, Ron Everett, a.k.a. Maulana Ron Karenga, stood at the forefront of the black power movement in the 1960s. Karenga distinguished himself as a "cultural nationalist" as opposed to a traditional Marxist. In 1965 Karenga founded the United Slaves Organization (US), a group that would rival the Black Panthers on the UCLA campus. The US was more radical than the Panthers, setting off quarrels between the two.

The biggest dispute between the US and the Panthers centered around the leadership of the new Afro-American Studies department at UCLA; both groups backed a different candidate. On January 17, 1969, 150 students gathered to discuss the situation. Panthers John Jerome Huggins and Alprentice Carter used the meeting to verbally attack Karenga, much to the dismay of his followers. Two US members, George and Larry Stiner, confronted Huggins and Carter in a hallway after the meeting and shot and killed them.

A May 11, 1969 letter in The Black Panther officially denounced Karenga. Wilbur Grattan, the Minister of State and Foreign Affairs of the "Republic of New Africa," wrote to Bobby Seale: "Speaking in the position of Minister of State and Foreign Affairs for RNA, I have always felt that Ron Karenga represented a great deal less than the best interests of the Black Liberation struggle against domestic colonialism, white racism, and world-wide imperialism."

This, however, did not faze Karenga, who continued to build and strengthen the US. Members of the US followed the "Path of Blackness" detailed in The Quotable Karenga, authored by Karenga himself. "The sevenfold path of blackness is think black, talk black, act black, create black, buy black, vote black, and live black," the book states.

The US would not last too much longer. On September 17, 1971, Karenga was sentenced to one to ten years in prison on counts of felonious assault and false imprisonment. The charges stemmed from a May 9, 1970 incident in which Karenga and two others tortured two women who Karenga believed had tried to kill him by placing "crystals" in his food and water.

A year later the Los Angeles Times described the events: "Deborah Jones, who once was given the title of an African queen, said she and Gail Davis were whipped with an electrical cord and beaten with a karate baton after being ordered to remove their clothes. She testified that a hot soldering iron was placed in Miss Davis' mouth and placed against Miss Davis' face and that one of her own big toes was tightened in a vice. Karenga, head of US, also put detergent and running hoses in their mouths, she said."

The shooting at UCLA caused Karenga to become deeply paranoid and spurred his bizarre behavior. At his trial, the question of Karenga's sanity arose. The psychiatrist's report stated, "This man now represents a picture which can be considered both paranoid and schizophrenic with hallucinations and elusions, inappropriate affect, disorganization, and impaired contact with the environment." The psychiatrist observed that Karenga talked to his blanket and imaginary persons and believed that he had been attacked by dive-bombers.

Eight years later California State University at Long Beach made Karenga the head of its Black Studies Department. Karenga had toned down his rhetoric and abandoned his cultural nationalism for straightforward Marxism. As an academic Karenga has authored various books on such topics as Egyptian art and has guest lectured at Stanford.

Initially, Kwanzaa proceeded from Karenga's hostility toward Western religion, which, he wrote in his 1980 book, Kawaida Theory, "denies and diminishes human worth, capacity, potential and achievement. In Christian and Jewish mythology, humans are born in sin, cursed with mythical ancestors who've sinned and brought the wrath of an angry God on every generation's head." He similarly opposed belief in God and other "spooks who threaten us if we don't worship them and demand we turn over our destiny and daily lives."

Thus, Karenga explained in his 1977 Kwanzaa: Origin, Concepts, Practice, "Kwanzaa is not an imitation, but an alternative, in fact, an oppositional alternative to the spookism, mysticism and non-earth based practices which plague us as a people and encourage our withdrawal from social life rather than our bold confrontation with it." The holiday "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 then, the holiday has gained mainstream adherents, and Karenga has altered its justification so as not to alienate practicing Christians: "Kwanzaa was not created to give people an alternative to their own religion or religious holiday," he writes in Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community, and Culture, published in 1997.

Still, some charge that the holiday and its official black, green, and red flag promotes racial separatism and violence. Says the official Kwanzaa Information Center: "red, or the blood, stands as the top of all things. We lost our land through blood; and we cannot gain it except through blood. We must redeem our lives through the blood. Without the shedding of blood there can be no redemption of this race." The Kwanzaa Information Center also notes that the flag "has become the symbol of devotion for African people in America to establish an independent African nation on the North American Continent."

James Coleman, a former Black Panther, argues, "By only stressing the unity of black people, Kwanzaa separates black people from the rest of Americans. Americans must unify on whatever principles ensure we live in a safe, prosperous, God-loving country, with the race and ethnicity of any American seeking to abide by those principles being of no consequence."

—J. Lawrence Scholer and the Editors


****

IMO, this article I post here just shows us how our heroes can never be left to appear “traitors” as to serve the interests of our oppressor. Dr. Maulana Karenga is a brave black militant who materialized the best way to uplift black peoples spiritually. We can make the necessary criticism of his person, but we can invalidate anything he did to release black peoples of the shackles of mental slavery.

Abantu.

Excellent discussion and thank you all who have posted.

Peace,
Queenie :spinstar:

Thank you Sister Abantu... that was a very informative and eye opening article in many ways

Much...
Peace & Love
Akilah
:book:

"James Coleman, a former Black Panther, argues, "By only stressing the unity of black people, Kwanzaa separates black people from the rest of Americans. Americans must unify on whatever principles ensure we live in a safe, prosperous, God-loving country, with the race and ethnicity of any American seeking to abide by those principles being of no consequence."



lol ******* pathetic^^^^

"James Coleman, a former Black Panther, argues, "By only stressing the unity of black people, Kwanzaa separates black people from the rest of Americans. Americans must unify on whatever principles ensure we live in a safe, prosperous, God-loving country, with the race and ethnicity of any American seeking to abide by those principles being of no consequence."



lol ******* pathetic^^^^


Why is this a pathetic statement????? Shouldnt we try to strive for a country that doesnt see color????

Why is this a pathetic statement????? Shouldn't we try to strive for a country that doesn't see color????
not until i get my forty acres and my **** mule!

Why is this a pathetic statement????? Shouldnt we try to strive for a country that doesnt see color????


I think we need to strive for a country that doesn't discriminate because of color. Being color blind is a myth

not until i get my forty acres and my **** mule!


So James what your saying is that if your payed off you will no longer have anything to b**** about and everything in the world will be OK??? Also you will not put any other person down because you got exactly what you wanted..... :ohmy:

No, we should strive for a country that respects the obvious diffrences in color and their respective colors namely negroes. Not try to ignore it, thats just retarded.

[QUOTE=Oba Iparankanru]No, we should strive for a country that respects the obvious diffrences in color and their respective colors namely negroes. Not try to ignore it, thats just retarded.[/QUOTE

this isnt even worth reponding to.

Whatever, it's amazing how many negroes lack dignity and pride, the self hate is simply astounding, blacks have been trying to escape themselves for so long that it has become engrained culturally.

So James what your saying is that if your payed off you will no longer have anything to b**** about and everything in the world will be OK??? Also you will not put any other person down because you got exactly what you wanted..... :ohmy:
i see no point in being "colorblind" as long as white people have the most and black people have the least.
if you are willing to redistribute all the wealth equally, than maybe i would consider it.

until that happens, i feel black people are owed reparations and that is based on their color.
so no, i'm not trying to be colorblind, i'm trying to advance the condition of my people, black people.

what is the point of ever being colorblind?

what is the point of ever being colorblind?

There is no point, unless you want to overlook your heritage

I was for Kwanzaa untill I found out that Dr. Marlena Karenga was an FBI agent.


In response to several articles floating around the internet which falsely and fraudulently attempt to link the creation of Kwanzaa to the violent clashes between the Us Organization and the Black Panther Party, I have constructed the following timeline. It clearly shows that Kwanzaa was already well established by the time of these unfortunate events. This ought to give some clarity of thought to those who are wondering whether or not to celebrate Kwanzaa.

--October 1966-the Black Panther Party for Self Defense was founded in Oakland, California.

–December 1966-the first Kwanzaa celebration was held in Los Angeles by the Us Organization. There were no associated acts of violence between the Panthers and Us.

–December 1967-the second Kwanzaa celebration took place in LA. There were no associated acts of violence between the Panthers and Us.

–December 1968-the third Kwanzaa celebration took place in LA. There were no associated acts of violence between the Panthers and Us.

–January 19, 1969-a shoot-out between members of the Us Organization and the Black Panther Party took place on the campus of UCLA [over some incredibly dumb ****-a story unto itself], resulting in the deaths of two black panthers. Karenga was not present when the shootout took place.

December 1969-the fourth Kwanzaa celebration took place in LA.

May 1970–nearly 5 months after the fourth Kwanzaa celebration had already taken place-and a full 3-1/2 years after the creation of Kwanzaa, Maulana Karenga allegedly tortured two women whom he accused of trying to poison him. I should point out that this was an allegation that was made in open court. Conveniently, the white “journalists” who put this out there conveniently failed to reveal whether or not the veracity of the accusations of torture held up under cross examination by Karenga’s defense attorney.

I should also point out that even though much has been written about Karenga's alleged violent behavior, none of these articles presents his side of the story. I have a tape of a talk show he was on in which a caller accused him of being an FBI stooge. He summarily dismissed the accusation and stated that this was mythology that originated with the Black Panther Party, which was THE most FBI-infiltrated organization of the 60's.

WE HAVE TO START SEPARATING THE MESSAGE FROM THE MESSENGER. oUR PEOPLE ALL OVER THE CONTINENT HAVE ALWAYS CELEBRATED THE HARVEST OF THE FIRST FRUITS, WHICH WERE DEDICATED TO OUR CREATOR. THIS INCLUDED FAMILY AND FOOD.

A COLOR BLIND SOCIETY CAN NEVER AND HAS NEVER EXISTED, FOR WITH THE COLOR COMES THE CULTURE AND THE HISTORY AND THE BIOLOGY AND THE REALITY...THE ONE THAT DICTATES AND SAYS: HISTORICALLY, SCIENTIFICALLY, BIOLOGICALLY, GENETICALLY, SOCIALLY, SPIRITUALLY, CULTURALLY AND MENTALLY THAT "WE ARE ALL NOT THE SAME".

SO LETS NOT START FLOATING IN THE CLOUDS AND DREAMING...KEEP OUR FEET ON THE GROUND...THIS IS LIFE !!!