Second in a Series on the 7 Kwanzaa Principles: Self or Us-KUJICHAGULIA?

Submitted by: Reverend Teddy Smith, Master of Divinity


Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) – is our collective, communal right “to define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves.”

Herein lays the reason why Kwanzaa will continue to be a third-rate holiday on the African-American “religious” calendar.

When Black Americans hear “self,” we think “individual.” The notions of collective or communal work and responsibility (Ujima); cooperative enterprise (Ujamaa); and, collective purpose (Nia); that inform Kwanzaa are foreign to how we are socialized about what it means to be truly “American.” Self-sufficiency and self-absorption as important for anything other than individuals will always trump a collective or communal ideal.
My book gives a personal journey where humans must start doing the right thing before it's too late: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1672518334.. In a nut shell, I am on a mission to tell people that we are in the 'last days' as earthlings where everyone will meet up with their maker and meet-up with those who have already left us. Yet, the final destination may not be what you were expecting because you never prepared for your life journey after earth. Your 'bucket list' were only bound to the physical world.

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