|
Books by Maulana Karenga
Introduction to Black Studies /
Selections from Husia: Sacred Wisdom of Ancient Egypt /
The Book of Coming Forth by Day
Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community, and Culture
/
Million Man March: Day of Absence
Handbook of Black Studies /
Maat, the Moral Idea in Ancient Egypt /
Kemet and the African Worldview
Kawaida Theory: An African Communitarian Philosophy
* * * *
*
The
Practical Significance of Kwanzaa
By Junious Ricardo
Stanton
As we begin this
Kwanzaa season let us expand our understanding of the
implications of Kwanzaa for impacting our world. The Akan of
Ghana in West Africa have a word Sankofa which means "go
back to the past and fetch what we need." Kwanzaa is a
cultural celebration that is observed by people of African
descent all around he world is consistent with the concept of
Sankofa. By learning and practicing the Nguzo Saba the Seven
Principles which are based upon traditional African values we
can build a foundation that can be used to reunite, resurrect
and revitalize the global African community and set us on our
way towards the liberation of not only ourselves but in due
time, the whole planet.
What is it we are
going back to fetch? First and foremost we must return
(re-member or reconnect) to our humanity, rediscover what it
means to be a fully functioning human being. We have the
opportunity to alter our status and self-image first in our own
minds then outwardly so we are in a better position to withstand
the coming onslaught of racism and predatory global dominance of
the New World Order. As the West under the leadership of
AmeriKKKa moves to ferret out and expropriate the world's
resources, and wealth while subjugating its people, the
salvation against it will be a fully conscious self-loving
people who know who we are, know our people's legacy of
accomplishment and who are willing to defend to the death our
freedom to be ourselves.
By celebrating Kwanzaa
we are made conscious of the cultural unity not only on the
African continent but also the importance of re-establishing it
throughout the Diaspora. At a time when European neo-fascist
imperialism led by the United States of AmeriKKKa is sweeping
the globe, we need an alternative set of values to prevent us
from being inundated by white supremacist pathology, materialism
and culturally induced self-negation. Kwanzaa, if we practice
the values inherent in the celebration all year round,
will help us realize our connectedness to our brothers and
sisters all over the world languishing under the cultural and
geo-political hegemony of Caucasians.
These values based
upon ancient African reciprocal We/I/Us obligations can and will
provide a safe place psychologically for us to regroup, rebound
and go forward amidst the storms and gales of both subtle and
overt racial oppression. Kwanzaa also is a way for us to come
together, meet and mingle, celebrate ourselves, gain strength
from one another and plan for our resurgence as a people.
Sankofa is an
admonition for us to acknowledge and return to what was ours,
what made us great as a people, fetch it; meaning retrieve it
and apply it to twenty-first century realities and circumstances
to empower, ennoble and encourage us to continue the struggle
against economic exploitation, racial oppression, the wanton
desecration of the planet and the genocide against its people.
Kwanzaa is a time to celebrate but it is also a call to action.
Sankofa, is a command
"go back and fetch!" it is not some idle quote. We
must be active if we are indeed to alter the present course of
history. If we slack off, it we choose not to respond to the
ancestral admonition to fetch that which is our's, reconnect
with it (our African humanity identity and heritage), know it,
bring it to our bosom and make it a part of us, we shall
continue down the road to insanity in a hell hole created by
aliens who have no concept of what it means to be human. In fact
their goal is to dehumanize humanity so they can rule over
us!
Kwanzaa is a time to
celebrate the timeless wisdom of our ancestors, a time for us to
recommit to each other and the CREATOR by pledging to be all
that we can be together realizing none of us can be whole
without the support, nurturing and encouragement of the
community from which we sprung. The concept- it takes a whole
village to facilitate the actualization of each member is real,
however we must recognize the village is sick from the
relentless bombardment of Euro-centric values and white
supremacist oppression.
The pathologies in our
communities are culturally induced. Our healing lies in our
past, we must go back and fetch it, relearn what it means to
integrate mind body and spirit and interact with our environment
and community in ways that uplift, protect and edify all.
Celebrating means practicing and implementing the values
inherent in Kwanzaa. It's the way to make ourselves whole, sane
and rebuild our communities.
posted 30 December 2002
* * * *
*
Promoting Cooperative Economics
Education and Practice through Kwanzaa—Ajamu Nangwaya—24 December 2011—
We have the chance to move from a celebratory approach to Kwanzaa as a
holiday to one that integrates its essence, values or principles in
organizing the economic development of the community. Ujamaa or
cooperative economics is usually advanced by some celebrants of Kwanzaa
as the way to African American economic empowerment. However, it is our
contention that the ideas behind this principle are little understood by
those promoting it.
For many Kwanzaa practitioners, it
is the mere buying of goods and services from African American-owned
companies. This practice does not speak to the ownership and governance
structures of the enterprises that are patronized. Wealth from economic
production is a collective endeavor, as it is virtually impossible for
the individual to create it single-handedly. Under the dominant economic
system of the day, the people (the workers) who create wealth are
generally not the ones who own and enjoy the use of it. Furthermore, the
popular perception of the Ujamaa principle does not have a dialogue with
the notion of “shared social wealth”, and the economic model that would
best manifest this idea and practice.
We believe it is time for African
Americans and all those who want a better economic life in this country
to promote the knowledge of cooperatives as organizational models and
tools for economic and social development. Cooperative education is a
necessary, but not a sufficient condition for its adoption by the
community. It must be put on display and experienced, as a practical way
to meet the material and self-actualizing needs of the people. In order
to disseminate the information about cooperatives, we should utilize the
public forums that are used to celebrate the holiday as educational
instruments. We may use each principle to highlight particular and
relevant aspects of the structure and operation of cooperatives. In the
community organizing phase of our educational effort we should
experiment with different spaces (living room meetings, public meetings,
street corner, places of worship, etc.) to reach the people.— MediaCoop
* * * *
*
Karenga
on Malcolm Justice for the Poor
Kwanzaa 2004
Kwanzaa Message 2006
The 10 Best Black
Books of 2010 (Non-Fiction)
Gramsci"s Black Marx
Whither the Slave in Civil Society?
* * *
* *
*
* * * *
 |
Blacks in Hispanic Literature: Critical Essays
Edited by
Miriam DeCosta-Willis
Blacks in Hispanic Literature is a
collection of fourteen essays by scholars and
creative writers from Africa and the Americas.
Called one of two significant critical works on
Afro-Hispanic literature to appear in the late
1970s, it includes the pioneering studies of
Carter G. Woodson and
Valaurez B. Spratlin, published in the 1930s, as
well as the essays of scholars whose interpretations
were shaped by the Black aesthetic. The early
essays, primarily of the Black-as-subject in Spanish
medieval and Golden Age literature, provide an
historical context for understanding 20th-century
creative works by African-descended, Hispanophone
writers, such as Cuban
Nicolás Guillén and Ecuadorean poet, novelist,
and scholar
Adalberto Ortiz, whose essay analyzes the
significance of Negritude in Latin America. This
collaborative text set the tone for later
conferences in which writers and scholars worked
together to promote, disseminate, and critique the
literature of Spanish-speaking people of African
descent. . . .
Cited by a
literary critic in 2004 as "the seminal study in the
field of Afro-Hispanic Literature . . . on which
most scholars in the field 'cut their teeth'."
|
* *
* * *
|
Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in
America
By Melissa V.
Harris-Perry
According to the
author, this society has historically exerted
considerable pressure on black females to fit into one
of a handful of stereotypes, primarily, the Mammy, the
Matriarch or the Jezebel. The selfless
Mammy’s behavior is marked by a slavish devotion to
white folks’ domestic concerns, often at the expense of
those of her own family’s needs. By contrast, the
relatively-hedonistic Jezebel is a sexually-insatiable
temptress. And the Matriarch is generally thought of as
an emasculating figure who denigrates black men, ala the
characters Sapphire and Aunt Esther on the television
shows Amos and Andy and Sanford and Son, respectively.
Professor Perry
points out how the propagation of these harmful myths
have served the mainstream culture well. For instance,
the Mammy suggests that it is almost second nature for
black females to feel a maternal instinct towards
Caucasian babies.
As for the source
of the Jezebel, black women had no control over their
own bodies during slavery given that they were being
auctioned off and bred to maximize profits. Nonetheless,
it was in the interest of plantation owners to propagate
the lie that sisters were sluts inclined to mate
indiscriminately.
|
 |
* *
* * *
 |
Maulana Karenga: An Intellectual Portrait
By Molefi Kete Asante
In this book, the most prolific contemporary African American scholar and cultural theorist Molefi Kete Asante leads the reader on an informative journey through the mind of Maulana Karenga, one of the key cultural thinkers of our time. Not only is Karenga the creator of Kwanzaa, an extensive and widespread celebratory holiday based on his philosophy of Kawaida, he is an activist-scholar committed to a "dignity-affirming" life for all human beings. Asante examines the sources of Karenga's intellectual preoccupations and demonstrates that Karenga's concerns with the liberation narratives and mythic realities of African people are rooted in the best interests of a collective humanity. The book shows Karenga to be an intellectual giant willing to practice his theories in order to manifest his intense emotional attachment to culture, truth, and justice. Asante's enlightening presentation and riveting critique of Karenga's works reveal a compelling account of a thinker whose contributions extend far beyond the Academy. Although Karenga began his career as a student activist, a civil rights leader, a Pan Africanist, and a culturalist, he ultimately succeeds in turning his fierce commitment to truth toward dissecting political, social, and ethical issues. Asante carefully analyzes Karenga's important works on Black Studies, but also his earlier works on culture and his later works on ethics, such as The Husia, and Odu Ifa: The Ethical Teachings.
|
* *
* * *
The White Masters of the
World
From
The World and Africa, 1965
By W. E. B. Du Bois
W. E. B. Du Bois’
Arraignment and Indictment of White Civilization
(Fletcher)
* *
* * *
Ancient African Nations
* * * * *
If you like this page consider making a donation
* * * * *
Negro Digest /
Black World
Browse all issues
1950
1960
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
____ 2005
Enjoy!
* * * * *
The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan
/
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
/
Only a Pawn in Their Game
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Thanks America for
Slavery
* *
* * *
The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg
The
Haitian Declaration of Independence 1804
/
January 1, 1804 -- The Founding of
Haiti
* * * * *
update 23 June 2008
|
