First in a Series on the 7 Kwanzaa Principles: Umoja denied
Umoja (Unity), to strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race.
This first principle in the Kwanzaa’s NGUZO SABAS (7 principles) is one that speaks to power, Umoja means unity. A house united will stand. A house divided will not stand. Is the black community divided? Is it unified? Is it standing?
This principal, Umoja, is what this article speaks too--its relevance, its meaning, its awareness in the supposedly community that we are apart of.
Depending on the perspective, the black community could be or could not be standing or unified.
On the surface, it appears that Blacks in America have made great strides. Recently, it (Black community) claimed the first black man being elected to be President of the United States of America, Barack Obama.
On the surface, this powerful symbolism of success makes it appear that Blacks have arrived. If we choose to identify the success of one or a few Blacks as how we gage success for the Black community, I would contend that the reasoning is wobbly.
Yes, historically, Blacks in America have always seem to live their success vicariously through others, first: white people and second: through other individual black people. Examples of this are explicit. Whiteness was given to us as being right. Everything that white endorsed was endorsed by us, including the meaning of success.
Then have lived their lives (and continue to do so) through other successful black people. A good example would be the Black preacher who wore the garments of success, from the large Cadillacs to the fur coats, while his parishioners struggled to pay their 10-% tithes that he benefited from, immensely.
The black press, especially the national Jet Magazine, has always dictated to the Black community what success is. They have always made it appear that success was rampant in the community. They would religiously record success stories in their weekly magazine of Blacks who had made it in different types of industries, including the entertainment industry.
Yet, statistics never lie as blacks as a whole community have always been disproportionately deprived of material wealth that the white people had. It would even seem a bit malicious to suggest that other cultures have practiced the real sense of a Umoja. Look at the Asians who could possibly mentor Blacks on the meaning of a Umoja.
As a rule, the American Black community does not practice Umoja, unity. not even during the time of Kwanzaa Celebration. The Black community does follow others traditions, such as Christmas, which is antithetical to the spirit of Kwanzaa.
It may educate some and offend others that one can pronounce that the closest that the Black community have ever come to being unified is when it was under the total oppression of the slave master, or when it had little rights under Jim Crow laws.
It’s not odd to remember visiting a small town in the Carolina's where people would wave at each other even if they had not been formally introduced. These same people had worked all day on the white man’s farm. These same people would make sure that their neighbor had food on their table.
Or, can we remember how Blacks risked their lives trying to escape to the land of freedom?
Today, as Blacks have become so-called free, it would appear that many of the so-called successful ones have either forsaken the black community, and talks to it from a distance, normally in a condescending way.
Yes, today the Black community have success stories, like, Ophrah Winfrey, Bill Cosby, Will Smith in entertainment. And, it has highly acclaimed experts and professionals in many other fields besides sports and entertainment. But it has yet to maintain a spirit of Umoja. The Umoja that Dr. Karenga speaks about as we celebrate Kwanzaa each year is foreign to the so-called Black community.
It's is a simple assessment especially as we see no community defense to drugs, imprisonment, jobliness, crime, illiteracy, health diseases and economic indepence. By the mere fact that the Black community continues to be permeated by these nuisances tells one that the practice of Umoja is null and void.
If the community is indeed satisfied with disproportionate representation of a few successful ones, then one should not call that Umoja, but it should be called individualism or self-determination.
When individual success actually becomes an essential working element in the total sum of parts to the whole Black community can spirit of communtiy realized, hence, the benefits of real Umoja. Meanwhile the community is antithetical to any Black person who have been taught do their own thing-only even if they got their start from there.
This first principle in the Kwanzaa’s NGUZO SABAS (7 principles) is one that speaks to power, Umoja means unity. A house united will stand. A house divided will not stand. Is the black community divided? Is it unified? Is it standing?
This principal, Umoja, is what this article speaks too--its relevance, its meaning, its awareness in the supposedly community that we are apart of.
Depending on the perspective, the black community could be or could not be standing or unified.
On the surface, it appears that Blacks in America have made great strides. Recently, it (Black community) claimed the first black man being elected to be President of the United States of America, Barack Obama.
On the surface, this powerful symbolism of success makes it appear that Blacks have arrived. If we choose to identify the success of one or a few Blacks as how we gage success for the Black community, I would contend that the reasoning is wobbly.
Yes, historically, Blacks in America have always seem to live their success vicariously through others, first: white people and second: through other individual black people. Examples of this are explicit. Whiteness was given to us as being right. Everything that white endorsed was endorsed by us, including the meaning of success.
Then have lived their lives (and continue to do so) through other successful black people. A good example would be the Black preacher who wore the garments of success, from the large Cadillacs to the fur coats, while his parishioners struggled to pay their 10-% tithes that he benefited from, immensely.
The black press, especially the national Jet Magazine, has always dictated to the Black community what success is. They have always made it appear that success was rampant in the community. They would religiously record success stories in their weekly magazine of Blacks who had made it in different types of industries, including the entertainment industry.
Yet, statistics never lie as blacks as a whole community have always been disproportionately deprived of material wealth that the white people had. It would even seem a bit malicious to suggest that other cultures have practiced the real sense of a Umoja. Look at the Asians who could possibly mentor Blacks on the meaning of a Umoja.
As a rule, the American Black community does not practice Umoja, unity. not even during the time of Kwanzaa Celebration. The Black community does follow others traditions, such as Christmas, which is antithetical to the spirit of Kwanzaa.
It may educate some and offend others that one can pronounce that the closest that the Black community have ever come to being unified is when it was under the total oppression of the slave master, or when it had little rights under Jim Crow laws.
It’s not odd to remember visiting a small town in the Carolina's where people would wave at each other even if they had not been formally introduced. These same people had worked all day on the white man’s farm. These same people would make sure that their neighbor had food on their table.
Or, can we remember how Blacks risked their lives trying to escape to the land of freedom?
Today, as Blacks have become so-called free, it would appear that many of the so-called successful ones have either forsaken the black community, and talks to it from a distance, normally in a condescending way.
Yes, today the Black community have success stories, like, Ophrah Winfrey, Bill Cosby, Will Smith in entertainment. And, it has highly acclaimed experts and professionals in many other fields besides sports and entertainment. But it has yet to maintain a spirit of Umoja. The Umoja that Dr. Karenga speaks about as we celebrate Kwanzaa each year is foreign to the so-called Black community.
It's is a simple assessment especially as we see no community defense to drugs, imprisonment, jobliness, crime, illiteracy, health diseases and economic indepence. By the mere fact that the Black community continues to be permeated by these nuisances tells one that the practice of Umoja is null and void.
If the community is indeed satisfied with disproportionate representation of a few successful ones, then one should not call that Umoja, but it should be called individualism or self-determination.
When individual success actually becomes an essential working element in the total sum of parts to the whole Black community can spirit of communtiy realized, hence, the benefits of real Umoja. Meanwhile the community is antithetical to any Black person who have been taught do their own thing-only even if they got their start from there.
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