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Kwanzaa - do people actually celebrate this? - Page 2

post #16 of 28
12/6/09 at 2:02pm
i'm black and i don't, nor do i know any other black people who does
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post #17 of 28
12/6/09 at 2:07pm
When I lived in the Detroit area, there was yearly press coverage of it, and there was some participation. I think the guy that invented it in the 60s did it in the Detroit area too.

Since moving away, the only time I've heard reference to Kwanzaa was on the v-mail greeting of transplanted East Coast libs. I've never heard Festivus on anyone's v-mail greeting though. Another grievance to air.
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post #18 of 28
12/6/09 at 2:10pm
When it comes to the holiday season, I defer to Mr. Eric Idle:

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post #19 of 28
12/6/09 at 2:14pm
My wife is from South Africa, and, prior to moving to the U.S., she'd never heard of Kwanzaa.

Admittedly, she's a white girl born of European parents, so she certainly wouldn't have celebrated it anyway. Still, it was a completely foreign concept to her; it's not as if the native Africans around her were celebrating it.

As far as I know it's a purely American invention with no ties to actual African practices.
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post #20 of 28
12/6/09 at 2:19pm
Last year i went to my friend 8Ball's for Kwanzaa. They lit one of 7 candles each day to celebrate the Principles of Blackness, bang on drums, and read poetry, was quite a show.
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post #21 of 28
12/6/09 at 2:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrG View Post
My wife is from South Africa, and, prior to moving to the U.S., she'd never heard of Kwanzaa.

Admittedly, she's a white girl born of European parents, so she certainly wouldn't have celebrated it anyway. Still, it was a completely foreign concept to her; it's not as if the native Africans around her were celebrating it.

As far as I know it's a purely American invention with no ties to actual African practices.

It is an african-american holiday. Make no miststake, Africans were never the intended celebrators.
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post #22 of 28
12/6/09 at 3:47pm
Quote:
In President George W. Bush's 2004 Presidential Kwanzaa Message, he said that, "During Kwanzaa, millions of African Americans and people of African descent gather to celebrate their heritage and ancestry. Kwanzaa celebrations provide an opportunity to focus on the importance of family, community, and history, and to reflect on the Nguzo Saba or seven principles of African culture. These principles emphasize unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith."

In 2004 BIGresearch conducted a marketing survey in the United States for the National Retail Foundation, which found that 1.6% of those surveyed planned to celebrate Kwanzaa. If generalized to the US population as a whole, this would imply that around 4.7 million Americans planned to celebrate Kwanzaa in that year

Other people put the number as high as 28 million, or at 12 million.
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post #23 of 28
12/6/09 at 9:02pm
If you talk to a hardcore jew, they will tell you that Chanukkah is only about one rung higher on the holiday scale than Kwanzaa. Not sure when, but they started pushing up a relatively minor jewish holiday since its timing usually coincides nicely with xmas and little jewish kids felt left out. I am not mad at them....
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post #24 of 28
12/6/09 at 9:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jgold47 View Post
If you talk to a hardcore jew, they will tell you that Chanukkah is only about one rung higher on the holiday scale than Kwanzaa. Not sure when, but they started pushing up a relatively minor jewish holiday since its timing usually coincides nicely with xmas and little jewish kids felt left out. I am not mad at them....

So, I really think you should learn about things before you spread nonsense.

As for Kwanzaa (a fake holiday I've never seen celebrated, or even promoted):
Ron Karenga (born Ronald McKinley Everett on July 14, 1941, and also known as Ron Everett and as Maulana Karenga) is an African American author, political activist, and college professor best known for inventing Kwanzaa, a week-long Pan-African celebration observed almost exclusively in the United States each year from December 26 to January 1. A convicted felon, Karenga served time in prison in the early 1970s after being convicted of felony assault and false imprisonment.

He was admitted to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as part of a federal program for students who had dropped out of high school, and received his master's degree in political science and African studies.

In 1971, Karenga, Louis Smith, and Luz Maria Tamayo were convicted of felony assault and false imprisonment for assaulting and torturing over a two day period two women from the US Organization, Deborah Jones and Gail Davis.[7] An article in the Los Angeles Times described the testimony of one of the women: "Deborah Jones, who once was given the title of an African queen, said she and Gail Davis were whipped with an electrical cord and beaten with a karate baton after being ordered to remove their clothes. She testified that a hot soldering iron was placed in Miss Davis' mouth and placed against Miss Davis' face and that one of her own big toes was tightened in a vise. Karenga, head of US, also put detergent and running hoses in their mouths, she said".
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post #25 of 28
12/6/09 at 9:25pm
Whats your point. In Detroit, lots of AA's, Kwanazaa is considered a real holiday - as I would guess it is in many other cities with a large AA pop. As a jew, I am able to say that most other jews that I know (see my other jew thread for my perspective) are well aware that chanukkah didnt really become a 'major' holiday untill they needed something to compete for xmas. That said, its even on the wikipedia page (and we know how accurate that it), that its signficiance is contrived. So yes, since I belive that kwanazaa (and honestly, since I have always lived in more AA heavy areas, I didnt realize that it wasnt as pervasive) and I also belive that chanukkah is a bit contrived, I made my point.


Quote:
Originally Posted by haganah View Post
So, I really think you should learn about things before you spread nonsense.

As for Kwanzaa (a fake holiday I've never seen celebrated, or even promoted):
Ron Karenga (born Ronald McKinley Everett on July 14, 1941, and also known as Ron Everett and as Maulana Karenga) is an African American author, political activist, and college professor best known for inventing Kwanzaa, a week-long Pan-African celebration observed almost exclusively in the United States each year from December 26 to January 1. A convicted felon, Karenga served time in prison in the early 1970s after being convicted of felony assault and false imprisonment.

He was admitted to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as part of a federal program for students who had dropped out of high school, and received his master's degree in political science and African studies.

In 1971, Karenga, Louis Smith, and Luz Maria Tamayo were convicted of felony assault and false imprisonment for assaulting and torturing over a two day period two women from the US Organization, Deborah Jones and Gail Davis.[7] An article in the Los Angeles Times described the testimony of one of the women: "Deborah Jones, who once was given the title of an African queen, said she and Gail Davis were whipped with an electrical cord and beaten with a karate baton after being ordered to remove their clothes. She testified that a hot soldering iron was placed in Miss Davis' mouth and placed against Miss Davis' face and that one of her own big toes was tightened in a vise. Karenga, head of US, also put detergent and running hoses in their mouths, she said".
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post #26 of 28
12/6/09 at 9:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jgold47 View Post
Whats your point. In Detroit, lots of AA's, Kwanazaa is considered a real holiday - as I would guess it is in many other cities with a large AA pop. As a jew, I am able to say that most other jews that I know (see my other jew thread for my perspective) are well aware that chanukkah didnt really become a 'major' holiday untill they needed something to compete for xmas. That said, its even on the wikipedia page (and we know how accurate that it), that its signficiance is contrived. So yes, since I belive that kwanazaa (and honestly, since I have always lived in more AA heavy areas, I didnt realize that it wasnt as pervasive) and I also belive that chanukkah is a bit contrived, I made my point.

And I made mine - you should read up on things before you spout what "hard core Jews" told you.
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post #27 of 28
12/7/09 at 12:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jgold47 View Post
Whats your point. In Detroit, lots of AA's, Kwanazaa is considered a real holiday - as I would guess it is in many other cities with a large AA pop. As a jew, I am able to say that most other jews that I know (see my other jew thread for my perspective) are well aware that chanukkah didnt really become a 'major' holiday untill they needed something to compete for xmas. That said, its even on the wikipedia page (and we know how accurate that it), that its signficiance is contrived. So yes, since I belive that kwanazaa (and honestly, since I have always lived in more AA heavy areas, I didnt realize that it wasnt as pervasive) and I also belive that chanukkah is a bit contrived, I made my point.

What year did Cahanuka become a major holiday?
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post #28 of 28
12/27/11 at 5:42pm

We did a Kwanzaa celebration at church last yr..I was hopin we would do it again this yr..it was cool:)  Harambee!smile.gif

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