Okay, this one is a bit of a rant session....
As you all know, I am a card carrying member of the Nationalist/Pan Africanist movement. I espouse the Afrocentric ideology, not only in my own writings, but in my everyday mode of living. I will be RBG until my last day on this physical plane.
At the same time, BECAUSE I am a part of this movement/community, it gives me more of a standing to critique and/or criticize some of the things that we do within this movement/community. As an alternative to the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, there are those in the "conscious" community that came up with a holiday of their own called the "
Umoja Karamu" (loosely translated to Unity Feast in KiSwahili).
????????
No disrespect meant to my fellow activists and revolutionaries, but...are you
shitting me?!?!
Look...we know that the way the holiday is presented and propagandized today is totally contrary to what really happened historically. I get the fact that we need to celebrate
our own cultural holidays as an alternative to this wicked societal system that we live in. But
come ON! WHY are we
making up holidays?!?! If we were really culturally aware, we would realize that we don't have to make up our own holidays; there are
plenty for us to celebrate. If you are involved in the Kemetic spiritual systems, there are a number of holidays that are expressed through that faith. There are probably a few others if you follow the belief systems of the Akan, Yoruba, Dogon, Vodun, Lucumi, and other African faiths. We don't need Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day, or Christmas, or to make up 'black' versions of those holidays.
There are a number of groups and organizations that create African-centered/afrocentric calendars to distribute to the community. Some are historically based, some are culturally based. If I were ever to create
my own cultural calender, I would list the following holidays:
All of
Black History Month
Veneral (Spring) Equinox
African Liberation Day
Juneteenth
Summer Solstice
Black August/African Liberation Month
Autumnal Equinox
Black Solidarity Day
Winter Solstice
Kwanzaa
I would also include the birthdays of iconic ancestors and freedom fighters, and also include the independence days of various African and Diasporic countries into the mix.
