HOPE and VICTORY

In 2008, about one out of every 198 people in the U.S. was incarcerated in a federal or state prison. Communities of color continue to be grossly over-represented in jails and prisons, as the multitude of systemic and social reasons for this disparity have not been adequately addressed. Although the DOJ report found that the number of African-Americans in prison fell by 18,400 since 2000, the number of incarcerated Hispanics has increased, and black men are still 6.5 times more likely, and Hispanic men 2.5 times more likely, to be in prison than white men. "While the decrease in the number of incarcerated African Americans is notable, it is only a small reduction in the disproportionate imprisonment rates that impact communities of color," added Velázquez. "These shameful racial disparities undermine the credibility of our system of justice in the United States and should be a matter of urgent concern for policymakers and legislators." For a more in-depth analysis...

Too bad the news out of Baltimore is not good. Its first elected female Mayor, who happens to be African American, has been found guilty on embezzlement charges. It was a charge amongst several others, but the others were dropped, and there is still one that is coming up. To say the least, the guilty charge handed out by a jury of her peers (Most African Americans) were on a petty act of stealing a petty $500 in gift certificates. But the legal consensus seems to be that its not 'how much' but on the principle that it was taken illegally. What does this has to do with 'women saviors'? Well it depends on the context that you are coming from. Let's take a second to explore the backdrop in a city that is about 65% African American. For the most part, it is comprised of a minority within a minority which are African American men who have qualitatively and quantitatively failed--miserably--thanks to an indifferent system. They've fallen, not necessarily due exclusive...

Kuumba (Creativity) To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it. It would appear that the 6 th principle of Kwanzaa finally speaks to not just Black people but to all people. Creating beauty is not just endemic to an African American culture, but it speaks to all people and cultures of the world. Maybe this was the intent of the author (to speak to all people of the world) to make Kwanzaa principles universal, to speak to all people. The problem with that is that why create Kwanzaa in the first place for Black people? In a recent article, a Jewish author ( Joshua Neuman , Huffington Post, 12/23/08) writes What happened to Kwanzaa ? Articles like this should solicit some reaction from Blacks, especially those tenured Black professors of History or Theology who have the titles that reflect their fluency in African American heritage and the Black community, and the many religious leaders who d...

Nia (Purpose) - To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness. It is worth the restating the meaning of the word Nia (Purpose) as found on the Official Kwanzaa Website. However, that meaning may be distorted. It may be unrealistic to tell Black people to restore their traditional greatness when so many Black traditional values are rooted in the values of the master. Notice the popularity of magazines like The Jet, Ebony, Black Enterprise, through the years and today, all have successfully contributed to the indoctrination of Black people to foreign values (white values). This may sound harsh, but it is what it is. It is not necessary to pull up a lot of statistics to confirm this reality. Just ask the neighbor next door, or better yet, ask anybody in the family about what they want to be when they grow up. 9 chances out of 10 most will probably say that they want to be materialistically rich...

Well, surely one isn ’t talking about the Black community when the phrase cooperative economics is mentioned, that’s Ujamaa in Swahili ? ... there are successful businesses owned by Blacks, but normally it has nothing to do with community cooperation ... When this writer thinks about cooperative economics, the groups that come to mind are Asian-Americans, along with Jewish-Americans, then Polish-Americans, then Latin Americans. Get my drift? Of course we can say that there are successful businesses owned by Blacks, but normally it has nothing to do with community cooperation, or cooperative economics within the Black community. Not even the Black churches have a history of working together except when the recognition is nondescript, meaning that it is deemed advantageous to have your name somewhere when you realize that you can't be the only dog in the game. Take the HIV epidemic, one outreach worker is quoted as saying “Trying to bring churches together for a compassionate cause...

I cannot reach fulfillment without "thou." The self cannot be self without other selves. Self-concern without other-concern is like a tributary that has no outward flow to the ocean. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Ujima (Collective work and responsibility). It is building and maintaining our community together and to make our brother’s and sister’s problems our problems and to solve them together. ( Official Kwanzaa Site ). I heard people recently saying things like: “I have enough problem of my own”. Another said, “They brought it on themselves”. No this is not ' drug addicts or criminals huddling over a piece of find and talking about self preservation. People with similar downfalls do have a tendency to help one another even if it’s in mischievous conditions. No, the former words and phrases were prevalent in a adult Christian Sunday School class discussion. It would appear that Christians have had enough of wayward members of society, and, each other. But somethin...

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.