Matunda ya kwanza!

Matunda ya kwanza! \nYeah, I bet you guys are thinking I have lost my mind and have started to speak gibberish. Well, I have. My dead week is so not so dead, but that's not why I said, 'Matunda ya kwanza.'\nIt's the Swahili phrase from which the African-American celebration Kwanzaa derives its name. \nKwanzaa, which occurs form Dec. 26 to Jan. 1, has been a celebration that has intrigued and annoyed me at the same time. \nIts creator, Dr. Maulana Karenga, said in his book "Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture," Kwanzaa was established in 1966 in the midst of the Black Freedom Movement.\nAccording to the official Kwanzaa Web site (www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org), it was created to, "reaffirm and restore our rootedness in African culture ... Secondly, serve as a regular communal celebration to reaffirm and reinforce the bonds between us as a people ... Thirdly, Kwanzaa was created to introduce and reinforce the Seven Principles."\nOK, I will give them credit for the second one; but I don't buy the first and last. \nIt's a fact that Africans were brought here as slaves and that the effects of enslavement are still felt today (some people may disagree, but that's a discussion for another time). However, African Americans have a history and a culture here in the United States, not in Africa. Simply saying a couple Swahili phrases, having a few African items around your house and wearing African clothes does not put you in touch with Africa. Remember, there are 53 different countries within the continent of Africa and hundreds if not thousands of ethnic groups. \nAnd to say that all these people have one culture is not only wrong but stupid.\nThe Seven Principles of the celebration are Unity, Self-Determination, Cooperative Economics, Purpose, Creativity and Faith.\nUnity: Like I said before, Africa is not unified. Hell, people themselves in African countries are not part of any cohesive whole (part of that can be thanks to the arbitrary national borders drawn when Europe divided the continent). \nSelf-Determination: That's an honorable goal to have. I'm in.\nCooperative Economics: That's also a noble goal. But to any attempt to link it to African values is stretching it. \nPurpose: Everyone needs a purpose, not just Africans or African Americans!\nCreativity: Ummm, I'm not sure where he is going with this one, but not everyone in Africa sits around and paints or makes wood carvings. \nAnd then there is the last one: faith. I thought Kwanzaa had nothing to do with faith? It's supposed to be the bringing of all peoples together.\nBut it doesn't stop there. According to the official Web site, Kwanzaa founded itself on the "five fundamental activities of continental African 'first fruit' celebrations: ingathering, reverence, commemoration, recommitment and celebration."\nFundamental part of continental Africa? \nI don't know what part of Africa Dr. Maulana Karenga is from -- or even if he has ever been there -- but when I was in Togo, West Africa, where my mother is from and where a member of my family used to rule the country, I just went to the market and bought some fruit. \nNo celebrating, no commemoration. I just bought the damn fruit and moved on with my day.\nUnlike some skeptics of the holiday, I don't think its intent is to divide people. Instead of trying to make up some celebration, Dr. Maulana Karenga and others who commemorate Kwanzaa should learn the real Africa. Or, if they are daring enough, they should go visit an African country and see if the people there are huddled around an American flag, or if they even resemble African Americans at all. \nBut don't look too hard.