Posted on 12/30/2011 3:33:58 PM PST by SeekAndFind
A lone Christmas tree on a makeshift pedestal stands prominently in the center of Howard University's main quadrangle, which is uncharacteristically empty during the first week of December. Students rush by to make it to their exams on time, with the tree serving as a reminder of the holiday traditions that await them after their last final. But for one Howard student, this evergreen emblem doesn't represent the true essence of the holiday spirit.
"My mother, she was very hard on trying to make us celebrate Kwanzaa. She felt that it was more important than Christmas," Howard student Jasper Henderson told The Root. "Kwanzaa has more definition of life -- Christmas is just presents."
Not everyone feels the same as Henderson and his mom. According to an unscientific poll of 472 of The Root's readers, only 35 percent of respondents currently observe Kwanzaa, an African-American holiday based on seven principles that is celebrated over the last week of the year. Half of all respondents have participated in such celebrations at least once in their lives.
Kwanzaa, a holiday created in 1966 by Maulana Karenga, black nationalist and current chair of Africana studies at California State University, Long Beach, seems to resonate most with the baby boomer generation and may be past its prime.
In fact, almost half -- 41 percent -- of all respondents born between 1946 and 1964 celebrate Kwanzaa, while those born in or before 1945 and in or after 1982 are least likely to celebrate the holiday. What's more, those born before 1945 are least likely to know someone who celebrates Kwanzaa, while those between the ages of 46 and 64 are most likely to know someone who celebrates the holiday.
(Excerpt) Read more at theroot.com ...
obamma recognized this year, but not Christmas I’ve been told.
The same people who buy into this communist fantasy are same ones who have been hoodwinked for decades to stay on the dumbocrap plantation.
Me neither.
/Futurama
The same people who celebrate Cracker Day.
A woman I worked with lived in Florida when she was a young child. According to her, Cracker day was when the non- whites would gang up on the white children and chase and beat them. Every year she lived there.
Why? If someone had taught this ignoramus the real meaning of Christmas he wouldn't be saying this. In fact, he probably wouldn't be wasting his time at a matchbook cover shithole like Howard.
I never heard of that one. But it doesn’t surprise me...
Kwanzaa = a turd splash!
Idiots that hate Christianity and the rise of American Exceptionalism.
Hey lets ALL celebrate Kwanzaa! Why should black folks get all the fun! We need a Kwanzaa Klaus! Black guy in a colorful dashiki. Lets hijack the holiday and make it a Fun time for all! Lets make it the joke it should be.
Carl, I am deeply touched by your thoughtfulness during this Kwanzaa season. I will purchase a small tree and decorate it with a curling iron (I don’t have a soldering iron), a small section of hose, a light weight vice grips (from the Dollar Store) and a small bottle of Lux Dish soap. Thanks for getting me in the mood, too. s/
I've got a roll hanging in the bathroom if you need any more.
How about turning it into a drinking holiday.
Did a saint convert your island to Christianity? We'll drink!
Did you win a single battle against the French (but lose the war anyway)? We'll drink!
Do you celebrate huge mugs of beer in Munich? We'll drink!
So why shouldn't a made up holiday of a harvest festival during a time when nothing is being harvested, using terms from a language from the wrong side of the continent invented by a torturing thug be turned into a week of drunkenness?
No, no. Its got to be an old Black guy with a white beard—kinda like Uncle Remus. With his big bag of toys and tricks, maybe some gourdes of strong drink! And yes, a big smile! That’s what Kawanzaa Klaus should look like.
It's a shame.
Wishing your friends and relatives a "Happy Kwanzaa" with a straight face followed by a quick chuckle always draws a few laughs.
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