Posted on 12/26/2005 11:33:44 AM PST by ncountylee
CHICAGO, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- The largest annual Kwanzaa celebration of African-American culture in the United States began Monday at Malcolm X College in Chicago.
Ayoka Samuels, a consultant for the college's Kwanzaa committee said a major misconception is that about the seven-day festival is that it's meant to be "the black Christmas," the Chicago Sun-Times said.
Samuels said many who celebrate it do substitute it for Christmas, and if gifts are exchanged, they must be either educational or a symbol of African heritage.
Maulana Ron Karenga, now a professor of black studies at California State University, Long Beach, created Kwanzaa in 1966 as a way to restore a sense of connection with African culture.
Each of the seven nights is devoted to a particular community value: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.
Part of the ceremony is the lighting of seven red, black and green candles, symbolizing sacrificed blood, race and Mother Africa, the Oakland Tribune said.
In Buffalo, N.Y., Denise Renfro said she is proud of the changes in her 10-year-old son since he entered Rites of Passage, an after-school program centered around Kwanzaa principles.
"He brings home good grades, likes school and has never gotten into serious trouble," she said
"The truth is that most people who celebrate kwanzaa (a very small portion of the black population) are in all likelihood educated, productive individuals."
The act of elevating Marxist tripe in psuedo-African drag to the status of religion is the antithesis of individuality.
Ooooh, I'll bet the kids love that.
Appropriate venue.
That ham sammich better have some gub'ment cheese on it.
"They have every right to worship a ham sandwich if they want."
Well, we already have a cargo cult, worshipping the bounty of government checks that appear in their mailboxes, so why not a ham sandwich.
Have there been any successful multicultural societies anywhere in the world, at anytime?
Yugoslavia, Lebanon, Africa. Those are all nice places... at least that's what I heard in school.
Owl_Eagle
"You know, I'm going to start thanking
the woman who cleans the restroom in
the building I work in. I'm going to start
thinking of her as a human being"
As nauseating as this "Kwanzaa message" is, the Presidential Pandering during the last Ramadan was even worse. Expect a "blessed winter solstice" message for the Gaia-pagan-wicca crowd before long....
This is what atheists commonly say about us Christians except they replace "fake holiday" with "imaginary God".
that blasphemes the religious heritage of both Africans and Americans. Hmmmm. . . . Who are these persons?
How does a secular celebration blaspheme anything? And what makes a holiday fake? Holidays are abstract ideas. They are real to whoever practices them.
Please be careful. Posting the president's own words about Kwanzaa or stating a negative opinion about the President's statements and the possible motives behind those statements can and will result in getting your post deleted, a thread removed, or even a suspension. One such thread which was simply a post of the Presidential Kwanzaa Message for 2005 was pulled after 60 or so mostly negative comments. I would expect such PC behavior from the White House, but never from a so-called "conservative" forum like Free Republic. I guess I've been wrong all of these years that I've been a member and active participant. Some topics are, apparently, verboten especially if it somehow casts the President in a bad light - even though it was the President's own statements or behaviors which were truly at fault.
ROFL! These criminals have co-opted the Judaeo-Christian festivals, complete with candles and gifts.
But instead of mistletoe, they hang a crack pipe.
One of my biggest criticisms of the Lib/'Rats is their pandering to minorities. Bush panders to everyone - even Mooselimbs.
That makes him appear uncertain and disingenuous to both sides. We don't need that in our "leader".
Strange - if there was a week that celebrated a european holiday, it would be dubbed racist.
>>>are in all likelihood educated, productive individuals<<<
And just where may I find these individuals? Among the millions who take every possible kind of government handout?
And the Kwanziites say one of their foundation stones is "RESPONSIBILITY".
What a crock!
See my comment #54.
Lol, "Sometimes"??
See #54
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