By Akilah Monifa
Many questions surround Kwanzaa, a holiday celebrating the roots of African-American history. Here are some answers.
10. Kwanzaa. Isn't that the African-American Christmas?
A lot of people assume that Kwanzaa was intended to replace Christmas. But the celebration has nothing to do with Christmas. Its purpose is to promote unity among African-Americans, as well as an understanding of our cultural roots. It was started in 1966 by Dr. Maulena Karenga, professor and chairman of black studies at California State University at Long Beach. The holiday is based on the cultures of Yorubas, Ibos, Ashantis, Zulus and other African tribes.
9. How long is Kwanzaa?
The celebration runs for seven days, from December 26 to January 1, and focuses on one principle each day: unity, self-determination, collective work, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.
8. What religion do you have to be to celebrate Kwanzaa?
Kwanzaa is not a religious holiday. It is celebrated by people of many faiths, as well as those who do not embrace any religion.
7. Why do people celebrate Kwanzaa?
Kwanzaa is sometimes criticized because it is a new holiday and lacks the historic roots of Hanukkah and Christmas, two prominent December holidays. But African-Americans' history in this country is relatively short--particularly our history as a free people. People celebrate Kwanzaa for a variety of reasons: to pay homage to our ancestors, for hope and faith, and for renewal and pride.
6. Doesn't Kwanzaa use a menorah or candelabrum?
A kinara (seven-branched candleholder) is used in Kwanzaa celebrations. Some confuse it with a menorah, which is used in Hanukkah celebrations. "Candelabrum" is a generic name for a branched candlestick. Menorah and kinara are two types of candelabra.
5. What colors are associated with Kwanzaa?
Red, for the blood of our people, not shed in vain; green, representing hope; and black, for the faces of our people.
4. Is celebrating Kwanzaa tantamount to supporting black nationalism or separatism?
None of Kwanzaa's principles calls for nationalism or separatism. This myth probably originated because Karenga, the holiday's founder, was a militant activist in the 1960s.
3. Is Kwanzaa recognized as a state holiday anywhere?
No. But last year the United States Postal Service honored Kwanzaa with a postage stamp.
2. How many people celebrate Kwanzaa?
About 18 million people celebrate Kwanzaa.
And the number-one question folks want answered about Kwanzaa but are afraid to ask:
1. Can white people who are not of African descent participate in a Kwanzaa celebration?
The short answer is yes. American society is becoming increasingly racially and ethnically diverse. But cultural sensitivity is always appropriate. More and more of us have mixed ethnic backgrounds. It is important, though, to remember that a big part of the holiday is creating community among African-Americans.
When invited, I go to cultural and religious celebrations that are not part of my cultural or religious heritage. I participate in a way that is comfortable for my host and for me. It would be arrogant of me, a non-Jew, to dominate a Seder or Hanukkah celebration, for example. People who are not of African descent should approach Kwanzaa with the same attitude.
A proverb often quoted during Kwanzaa reads: "I am because we are; because we are, I am." Harambee! (Let's pull together!)
Friday, December 25, 1998
Thursday, April 23, 1998
Don't drive while black
By Akilah Monifa
Most folks are familiar with the acronym DWI, driving while intoxicated, but not DWB, driving while black.
Take Aaron Campbell, an African-American police officer from Miami, whose arrest and recent trial have drawn some media attention. Campbell was off-duty when he was stopped in Orlando, Fla., in January 1997. The state says that Campbell failed to signal a lane change. The officer who stopped Campbell was white.
Campbell screamed and swore at the officer. He was subsequently arrested and charged with five counts of battery and resisting arrest. At trial, Campbell said that the initial stop was illegal since he said he had put on his signal when changing lanes. He said he was guilty only of the unwritten crime of DWB.
Earlier this month, a jury found him not guilty of four counts and guilty of a misdemeanor count of resisting arrest.
DWB is a common charge.
A recent Orlando Sentinel survey reveals that African Americans constitute 16 percent of the drivers on the Florida turnpike but account for more than 50 percent of the traffic stops. A Maryland study of Interstate 95 between Baltimore and Delaware shows that 73 percent of traffic stops were of African Americans, though that group comprised only 14 percent of all drivers on the highway.
Surveys also show that lighter-skinned blacks don't get stopped as often. "Nightline" recently devoted a two-part series to the issues of crime and being black in America. A major issue discussed was that of DWB. Former prosecutor Christopher Darden, now at Southwestern School of Law, stated that he has been stopped at least once annually since getting his driver's license in 1972 _ not for committing any traffic violation but apparently for driving through a predominately white neighborhood, or in a fancy car.
"They can't stop someone solely because of their race, but in most of these situations, it seems that the dominant characteristic or factor is the motorist's race," said Darden.
It's not limited to driving. Another crime is SWB, shopping while black: Those of us of a darker hue get closer scrutiny while shopping.
We are suspects solely because of skin color. Let's have a real dialogue about that.
Most folks are familiar with the acronym DWI, driving while intoxicated, but not DWB, driving while black.
Take Aaron Campbell, an African-American police officer from Miami, whose arrest and recent trial have drawn some media attention. Campbell was off-duty when he was stopped in Orlando, Fla., in January 1997. The state says that Campbell failed to signal a lane change. The officer who stopped Campbell was white.
Campbell screamed and swore at the officer. He was subsequently arrested and charged with five counts of battery and resisting arrest. At trial, Campbell said that the initial stop was illegal since he said he had put on his signal when changing lanes. He said he was guilty only of the unwritten crime of DWB.
Earlier this month, a jury found him not guilty of four counts and guilty of a misdemeanor count of resisting arrest.
DWB is a common charge.
A recent Orlando Sentinel survey reveals that African Americans constitute 16 percent of the drivers on the Florida turnpike but account for more than 50 percent of the traffic stops. A Maryland study of Interstate 95 between Baltimore and Delaware shows that 73 percent of traffic stops were of African Americans, though that group comprised only 14 percent of all drivers on the highway.
Surveys also show that lighter-skinned blacks don't get stopped as often. "Nightline" recently devoted a two-part series to the issues of crime and being black in America. A major issue discussed was that of DWB. Former prosecutor Christopher Darden, now at Southwestern School of Law, stated that he has been stopped at least once annually since getting his driver's license in 1972 _ not for committing any traffic violation but apparently for driving through a predominately white neighborhood, or in a fancy car.
"They can't stop someone solely because of their race, but in most of these situations, it seems that the dominant characteristic or factor is the motorist's race," said Darden.
It's not limited to driving. Another crime is SWB, shopping while black: Those of us of a darker hue get closer scrutiny while shopping.
We are suspects solely because of skin color. Let's have a real dialogue about that.
Tuesday, January 13, 1998
What Martin Luther King Day means to me
By Akilah Monifa
Martin Luther King Day is much more than a holiday.
I often wonder what those who didn't know the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. think of the man and the holiday. I don't have that problem.
I am a 41-year-old African-American woman who grew up in Huntsville, Ala. My parents strategized and marched with King. I learned about civil disobedience and protests from them when I was 4 years old. I heard them talk of engaging in sit-ins at segregated lunch counters. And they explained to me that we would not be buying new clothes from the segregated stores in town on Easter because King, in conjunction with the local churches, had organized a boycott. If we couldn't shop at these stores by entering the front door, then we wouldn't patronize them.
Easter clothes and accouterments were a very big deal among a lot of African Americans in the South. It was the time when we put on our finest clothes. We all got entirely new outfits _ the whole regalia, including underwear, shoes, purses, hats and gloves.
So it was a very big deal to forgo this. In fact, the organizing strategy was to wear blue jeans that Easter Sunday in 1962. Now, little black girls did not wear pants to church anywhere in the 1960s, much less jeans. But it was a visible way to demonstrate our outrage with stores that discriminated against us based on race. King knew that this would be a hard sell in the black community, but he also understood that it was essential.
I never met King, but my father so vividly described the meetings and organizing sessions around the boycott that in my young mind I had met the great man. Plus, in a lot of black homes in the 1960s there were three pictures hanging on the walls: Jesus Christ, John F. Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
My father, just three years younger than King, spoke of him both as a good friend and as a genius. His oratory skills were legendary and I'm not simply speaking of his oft-quoted "I Have a Dream" speech. If there was an opportunity to hear King preach, you took that opportunity. His down-home preaching was so good that it made you want to holler and fan yourself at the same time.
I wonder what King, who would have been 70 this year, would make of the country in 1999? He would notice the national holiday and all of the streets named after him, but I imagine he would not be impressed. King was a man of substance. Stamps, holidays and streets were not in his master plan.
King advocated for diversity, for an end to discrimination. His "dream" has not come to fruition. But neither are we in the nightmare that some might suggest. A lot of people simply "talk the talk" rather than "walk the walk" around the diversity King dreamed of. Many of us spend the majority of our time with people who look like us rather than those who may reflect the diversity of which we speak.
So, I will honor the anniversary of King's birth as I did even in the years before it became a federal holiday. I will shed tears over the loss of a great man and a philosopher. I will rue the lack of knowledge that most have of his life and legacy. And I will offer a not-so-silent prayer that the best way to honor King is by listening or reading some of his speeches and by "walking the walk" of diversity. Actions do speak louder than words.
Martin Luther King Day is much more than a holiday.
I often wonder what those who didn't know the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. think of the man and the holiday. I don't have that problem.
I am a 41-year-old African-American woman who grew up in Huntsville, Ala. My parents strategized and marched with King. I learned about civil disobedience and protests from them when I was 4 years old. I heard them talk of engaging in sit-ins at segregated lunch counters. And they explained to me that we would not be buying new clothes from the segregated stores in town on Easter because King, in conjunction with the local churches, had organized a boycott. If we couldn't shop at these stores by entering the front door, then we wouldn't patronize them.
Easter clothes and accouterments were a very big deal among a lot of African Americans in the South. It was the time when we put on our finest clothes. We all got entirely new outfits _ the whole regalia, including underwear, shoes, purses, hats and gloves.
So it was a very big deal to forgo this. In fact, the organizing strategy was to wear blue jeans that Easter Sunday in 1962. Now, little black girls did not wear pants to church anywhere in the 1960s, much less jeans. But it was a visible way to demonstrate our outrage with stores that discriminated against us based on race. King knew that this would be a hard sell in the black community, but he also understood that it was essential.
I never met King, but my father so vividly described the meetings and organizing sessions around the boycott that in my young mind I had met the great man. Plus, in a lot of black homes in the 1960s there were three pictures hanging on the walls: Jesus Christ, John F. Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
My father, just three years younger than King, spoke of him both as a good friend and as a genius. His oratory skills were legendary and I'm not simply speaking of his oft-quoted "I Have a Dream" speech. If there was an opportunity to hear King preach, you took that opportunity. His down-home preaching was so good that it made you want to holler and fan yourself at the same time.
I wonder what King, who would have been 70 this year, would make of the country in 1999? He would notice the national holiday and all of the streets named after him, but I imagine he would not be impressed. King was a man of substance. Stamps, holidays and streets were not in his master plan.
King advocated for diversity, for an end to discrimination. His "dream" has not come to fruition. But neither are we in the nightmare that some might suggest. A lot of people simply "talk the talk" rather than "walk the walk" around the diversity King dreamed of. Many of us spend the majority of our time with people who look like us rather than those who may reflect the diversity of which we speak.
So, I will honor the anniversary of King's birth as I did even in the years before it became a federal holiday. I will shed tears over the loss of a great man and a philosopher. I will rue the lack of knowledge that most have of his life and legacy. And I will offer a not-so-silent prayer that the best way to honor King is by listening or reading some of his speeches and by "walking the walk" of diversity. Actions do speak louder than words.
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