The Value of Kwanzaa
The Value of Kwanzaa
Junious Ricardo Stanton
From
December 26th to January 1, millions of people around the world
participate and experience Kwanzaa, a celebration based upon African and
indigenous people’s values and traditions. Kwanzaa was created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana
Karenga at a time when Diasporan Africans were reasserting our self-identity
and self-determination and breaking from an oppressive Eurocentric imperialist worldview
and culture. It was designed to create and build an appreciation for unity,
traditional African values, empowerment and community.
Since its
creation in the US,
Kwanzaa has spread around the world and is now accepted and celebrated as an
established holiday. Over the years the celebration has had its detractors.
Some opposed it because they thought it threatened or competed with Christmas.
Some said it was a “made up holiday”, some said or implied it was too Black, that
it was African while others resisted learning about it, learning the words or
they poo-pooed the principles behind it.
There were others who embraced the
concept and keep the Kwanzaa traditional despite its detractors. Kwanzaa has
value regardless of its detractors. First, all holidays are “made up”! Each and
every holiday in existence, is the creation of the ethnic groups, institutions
and culture who invented them for their own particular reasons to meet their
specific needs. Christmas or the Christ Mass is a made up holiday. It was
invented by the founders of the Catholic Church to reinforce their story about
the birth of Jesus. The “Church Fathers” decreed that Jesus’ birth was on
December 25th. The fact that
December 25th coincides with the Winter Solstice which was also the
stated time of the births of other avatars and savior gods which predated
Christianity is no coincidence.
Every holiday we celebrate in this country is
made up. The Fourth of July is a made up holiday as are: Hanukkah, Easter,
Labor Day, Veterans Day, Carnival, Bastille Day, Mardi Gras and Juneteenth. Yet
we don’t question them or their significance do we? No. Many are based upon myths or other people’s
culture yet we still celebrate them without question.
Kwanzaa was
created and based upon African and indigenous traditions. It has no religious
significance whatsoever, it is not a religious holiday, nor was it designed to
compete with Hanukkah or Christmas. Yes Kwanzaa is African inspired and Black,
so what? It was created at a time when
conscious liberation minded Blacks were attempting to assert our agency, encourage
empowerment, and establish an identity free from the disrespect white America
heaped upon us and our own internalized self-hatred. What’s wrong with focusing on Blackness, Black
empowerment, family, community and unity? What’s inappropriate about wanting a
wholesome community, togetherness, cohesion and prosperity?
Kwanzaa
is not a threat to your pastor, or your religious doctrines and dogma if you
are a Christian. Kwanzaa is no threat to your Imam or Koran’s teachings if you
are a Muslim or any other religion for that matter.
As far as learning new words is
concerned, we do it all the time! Black people are always making up slang words
and phrases or changing the meaning of English words, its part of our rhythm,
creative swag and hipness. Our slang almost always becomes part of the American
vocabulary and lexicon.
We should be open minded and
willing to learn about our past, synthesize what we’ve learned and apply it for
the betterment of our lives. This is the essence of wisdom, what our African
ancestors called Sankofa; which is an
Akan word which means to go back and fetch. Dr. Karenga was encouraging us to
look back, to learn about our history, our greatness and apply it to our daily
lives.
Kwanzaa is a celebration based upon
ancient traditions. The word Kwanzaa means “first fruits” harkening to a time
when African people were close to the land, planting, harvesting, raising
animals and being thankful for nature’s bounty. But most of us are urban
dwellers in a post industrial society today, we don’t know much about
agriculture or the deep significance of living and working close to nature.
Nevertheless, we need to learn about nature,
the cycles of the sun, moon and stars because they are part of our legacy and
traditions.
Another good thing about Kwanzaa is,
it’s not a materialistic celebration; you won’t go into debt celebrating
Kwanzaa. Kuumba is one of the seven
principles which mean creativity; we are encouraged to use our imaginations to
make gifts rather than going to the store and buying. Kwanzaa tasks us to envision a better reality
for ourselves as a people.
We are becoming too materialistic,
too obsessed with gizmos and gadgets to our own detriment. We are becoming too
detached from ourselves and our families. Technology is minimizing face to face,
soul to soul interaction to the point we think pushing a button to like
something means we’ve taken concrete action. We think joining a social network
means we have friends but the fact of the matter is, we don’t interact with
these people on meaningful levels.
Kwanzaa is about gathering together,
it encourages being socially engaged and interactive with family, friends and
the community, sharing common values (the seven principles) and a vision for us
and our community. This alone should make it more attractive and valuable.
Happy Kwanzaa!
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The Significance of the Winter Solstice
The Significance of the Winter Solstice
Junious
Ricardo Stanton
“The solstice happens at the same instant for all of
us, everywhere on Earth. In 2019, the December solstice comes on December 21 at
10:19 p.m. CST. That’s on December 22 at
4:19 Universal
Time. It’s when the sun on our sky’s
dome reaches its farthest southward point for the year. At this solstice, the
Northern Hemisphere has its shortest day and longest night of the year.” https://earthsky.org/?p=2951
On December 22 those of us living in the Northern
Hemisphere will experience the Winter Solstice, due to the earth’s rotation on
its axis that day will have the shortest amount of sunlight followed by the
longest amount of darkness. This is an annual astronomical occurrence. Simultaneously
the Southern Hemisphere will experience the exact opposite, the shortest night
and longest day light.
Our ancient ancestors were very observant; they were in
awe of nature because in their worldview and reality the physical world was the
result of mental and spiritual design. To them there was correspondence in the
universe “as above so below, as below so above”. Celestial and earthly
phenomenon were observed and given metaphysical and spiritual significance. So
the shortening or lengthening of days and nights was a big deal to them. Equinoxes,
the changing seasons, the annual river flooding helped them order their
lifestyles, their movements, animal husbandry, planting and harvesting.
The Sun was the biggest and brightest thing in the sky. It
provided warmth, light, a sense of awe and security. For the sun to appear it
was standing still, or for days to actually become noticeably shorter, nights
longer and vice versa was a major occurrence for them. The solstices were times
of wonder, a time to commemorate and to eagerly anticipate the sun’s return,
rebirth or resurrection. They likened this death and rebirth of the sun during
the Winter Solstice to the changing of the seasons, harvesting vegetation, to
be replanted and reborn again at a certain time in the year.
So
all over the world the Winter Solstice has been acknowledged, celebrated and
used as a clock not only for nature but also as a metaphor for spiritual
enlightenment, regeneration and life. “People have assigned special
meaning to the winter solstice for thousands of years. As a matter of fact, we
know that the natural phenomenon greatly influenced people’s beliefs and
actives as far back as the Neolithic period, which was roughly 10,000BC. That’s
because astronomical events were used to guide certain activities, such as the
sowing of the crops, creating food reserves, and even mating the animals to
have them give birth to a new generation in the spring. As such, certain
traditions and mythologies were born in celebration of the period. Generally,
the winter solstice is associated with different gatherings,
festivals,
rituals, celebrations, and a permeating sense of rebirth. This makes a lot of
sense considering the fact that the winter solstice is associated with the
birth of several individuals considered to be divine across the world. For
example, Christianity’s
Jesus,
Egypt’s’ Horus, and
Persia’s Mithras were all born
around the time of the winter solstice. In other words, the darkest time of the
year seems to coincide with the birth of saviors who mostly aim to enlighten
us.”
https://blog.merkaela.com/spiritual-winter-solstice/
Our ancestors used the heavenly
phenomenon of the solstices to teach lessons about life on earth (as above so
below) and created myths whereby the soul experienced the vicissitudes of life,
its ups and downs, highs and lows dying and being reborn again on its way to
its zenith in the sky. They also equated the Sun to a savior born around the
Winter Solstice, during that dark time but whose life mission was to bring
redemption, light and enlightenment to the world.
Too often today these ancient and
indigenous traditions are denigrated without us even knowing and understanding
their links to our current celebrations and rituals. Our modern rituals are
often based upon the solstices and the spiritual and metaphysical cosmology
behind them.
This December 22, 2019 take time
out to ponder the significance and inner meanings of the Winter Solstice, contemplate
how it can serve as a metaphor for our own personal enlightenment. Think about
how you/we are like the sun, how we experience setbacks and tribulation but
just like the sun we rise out of the darkness, ascending upward even brighter
than before our descent.
Don't Block Your Blessings
Don’t Block Your
Blessings
Junious Ricardo Stanton
“God
gives nothing to those whose arms are crossed.” Bambara proverb
We live in an abundant universe,
there is unlimited energy and potentiality all around us; yet far too many of
us have been conditioned to only think within the narrow confines of lack and
privation. Even in the hottest desert abundant life exists. It behooves us to think
differently about our lives, experiences potential and options. Our thinking is
the key; the universe is mental as we have shared recently.
Life is a fluid, dynamic process; it is a school,
a perpetual learning environment. We are always learning one way or another. Sometimes
we are the teacher, sometimes we are the student, often we are both at the same
time. Life is not stagnant; it is dynamic, full of possibilities, potential and
options. Life is worth living to the fullest.
African cosmology teaches the
universe is teleological meaning it was/is designed with intelligent purpose
and meaning. In a purposefully designed universe everything has intention, function
and use. Everything is interconnected
and interdependent, part of a great whole. One of the prime objectives for
traditional Africans and indigenous people is to discern their purpose,
discover why we are here and how to best fulfill our life’s mission. We will
discuss this idea further at a later time.
These ideas fly in the face of the
lies we have been told about Africa and primitive
people. Notions about a teleological universe animated by SPIRIT also differ
greatly from materialistic Europe where people
are indoctrinated and trained to become a cog in the profit making machine
owned and maintained by a ruthless, greed motivated oligarchy. Deep discussions
such as this are lacking in Western society.
African people believe in destiny;
meaning each one of us comes into the world for a unique and specific purpose
to do great things within a divinely planned universe. When we examine African
cosmology and wisdom teachings, we get an entirely different perspective on
life, living, ourselves and our environment. On a practical level our
ancestors’ wisdom opens doors to personal and collective fulfillment, importance,
optimum health and well being. It expands our vision of possibilities.
Traditional Africans believe the
material world is interpenetrated by the spiritual realm; that these energies,
forces and intelligence can be harnessed for good or evil which is why they
placed so much emphasis on good character, communal values and righteousness.
If one has a worldview of abundance and
potentiality then one knows his or her needs will be met because there are
entities and forces one can call upon for guidance, wisdom, and assistance.
This guidance is readily available and can be used or called upon to make sure
one is living in accordance to his or her destiny or life’s purpose.
European imperialists set out to undermine and
destroy indigenous cosmology and cultural values by imposing their religious
dogmas using violence, coercion and oppression on the natives. After centuries
of indoctrination, many Diasporan Africans are totally ignorant of our profound
cosmological heritage. We are clueless about the notions of reality constructed
by our ancestors that served them extremely well for thousands and thousands of
years.
We need to return to our aboriginal
philosophy and view of the universe. We need to reevaluate our standing in the
universe. We are here for a purpose and we have all we need to be successful. We
are not poor; we just have forgotten the principles of mental alchemy. Our
amnesia was/is induced by our enemies who in many ways are our polar opposites.
We have forgotten how to raise our consciousness and mental vibrations to
resonate on a higher frequency to empower ourselves and attract what we envision
and desire.
Africans used ritual to alter their
collective vibrations and energy, to assist the whole community; but also knew
they could also raise them on a personal level to secure protection, prosperity,
optimal health and healing.
The Bambara people have a saying,
“God gives nothing to those whose arms are crossed.” Today we are like people
with our arms folded across our chests, unable to receive what the universe
through people and circumstances offers us. In body language arms crossed over
one’s chest signifies a defensive posture, insecurity, keeping others out.
We also do this mentally. Psychologically we
are engaged in psychoclerosis (the hardening of the attitude, which causes a
person to cease dreaming, seeing, thinking, and leading. It is the hardening of
the mind so that we become unteachable: we stop learning we stop growing and we
are unable to receive what the UNIVERSE intends to give us. In effect we are blocking our own good because
we have hardened our minds against the possibilities, options and potential that
exists all around us, here and now!
Mental alchemy was thought of as “magic”
by unenlightened foreigners and invaders unfamiliar with the principles behind
it. As we have discussed earlier, our ancestors knew the universe was mental/
spiritual in nature; that it was the product of intelligent thought, design and
creative power.
Like THE CREATOR we too have the ability to
think, imagine, design and equally as important to act in this physical realm.
All of these must be employed to make things happen/manifest and they must be
infused with emotional energy. We do this all the time already; our emotions
can be either positive or negative. Positive visualization is called faith. I
prefer to call it eustress: positive imagination, emotions, motivation and
biochemical activity having a beneficial effect on health, motivation,
performance, and emotional well-being.
Eustress like its polar opposite
distress (the Principle or Law of Polarity), is an inside job. We create our
reality. We create/manufacture it within ourselves by our thoughts and feelings!
Eustress is the beginning of the blessing process; you feel good sending
positive energy into the universe. You are actively engaged in living and
creating. The universe always responds in accordance to the nature, intensity
and degree of your mental and emotional vibration.
Everything is mental. Do a mental
self-check; is your thinking positive, energetic, enthusiastic and purposeful
or is it pessimistic, lethargic, and willy-nilly? Change your attitude, elevate
your vibration and expectations, stop blocking your blessings.
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