Kwanzaa: Work & Responsibility

Hey Subbies,

Sorry for the late post I had to work, so needed to take a minute before I could continue this series on Kwanzaa. I think I will be releasing the last couple of Principles in one blog post in the coming days. I wanted to really focus on the first three then I think for the last one I'm going to do a special post for that one since it has a lot more things I can talk about. The word for the third day of Kwanzaa is called:

Ujima

(oo-JEE-mah)

Collective Work & Responsibility

To build and maintain your community together. To work together to help one another within your community.

According to the US government's copyright laws, the term “collective work” refers to a submission in which a number of contributions are assembled into a collective whole. This principle means to help take care of the community by buy, selling, and promoting black-owned business. Also, take care of and keep the community safe, educated, and always seeking opportunities for betterment. And Responsibility is "the state or fact of having a duty to deal with something or of having control over someone." Together these two terms can be interpretative as collective guilt in certain situations, the black community is very hard to each other when a person misrepresents us through a medium (or media) frame. The term "collective guilt" is seen here as the individuals are responsible for other people's actions by tolerating, ignoring, or harboring them, without actively collaborating in these actions.

Today's Symbol term to go with this Principle is: 

Mazao

(The Crops)

These are symbolic of African harvest celebrations and of the rewards of productive and collective labor.

"The first-fruits celebrations are recorded in African history as far back as ancient Egypt and Nubia and appear in ancient and modern times in other classical African civilizations such as Ashantiland and Yorubaland. Kwanzaa builds on the five fundamental activities of Continental African "first fruit" celebrations: ingathering; reverence; commemoration; recommitment; and celebration..." read the rest here.

African Crops

Green beans

Carrots

Sweet potatoes

Beetroot

Squash

Lettuce

Tomatoes

~ Heri za Kwanzaa ~

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Kwanzaa: Self Determination

Hey Subbies,

Habari gani? (What the News?): For day two of Kwanzaa is especially important because from Unity I think you can gain a sense of willpower.  The word for the second day of Kwanzaa is called:

Kujichagulia

(koo-jee-chah-goo-LEE-ah)

Demands a practice of self-determination in both the cultural and economic sense. It stresses the moral obligation of Africans to define themselves, speak for themselves, build for themselves, and make their own unique contribution to the forward flow of human history. Thus this principle prohibits collaboration in one's own oppression, the allowance of others to define African people or culture and turning to others for Kwanzaa items which the community itself has conceived of and has historically and rightfully made.

To be responsible for ourselves. To create your own destiny.

Dr. Karenga says, "You should not mix the Kwanzaa holiday or its symbols, values, and practice with any other culture. This would violate the principles of Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) and thus violate the integrity of the holiday." Self Determination is not defined based on "Freedom to live as one chooses or to act or decide without consulting another or others. It is more associated with the communal definition "Determining by the people of the form their government shall have, without reference to the wishes of any other nation, especially by people of a territory or former colony." We must all take part in expressing ourselves culturally and philosophical of which it does not permit outside forces to change those core values.

Today's Symbol term to go with this Principle is: 

Mkeka

(The Mat)

This is symbolic of our tradition and history and therefore, the foundation on which we build.

~ Heri za Kwanzaa ~

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Kwanzaa: Unity

Hey Subbies,

I wanted to continue from my last post with a theme for each day of Kwanzaa. These words are apart from seven principles of Kwanzaa.Today's word I think is especially important for what is going with people who feel left out during the holiday season or feel hurt. The word for the first day of Kwanzaa is called:

Umoja
(oo-MOH-jah)

Success starts with Unity of Family, community, nation, and race.

This word means: the state of being united or joined as a whole.

In other words, "A time of ingathering of the people to reaffirm the bonds between them."

A symbol to go along with this principle is:

Kikombe cha Umoja (The Unity Cup)

This is symbolic of the foundational principle and practice of unity which makes all else possible.

I think it is giving a gift that can help someone feel whole either it be via mind, body, and soul. I think meditation like yoga would be great gift idea. Another would be giving back to the community or taking it upon yourself to help a family or friend need are what I think what counts. I also think is it important to also ask for help from others so that wheel of unity can keep people in each other in our hearts and minds. Last year my mom's cup broke and it had a very meaningful message on it, so I went out and brought her another cup with a message to somehow make her whole. I hope everyone can gain something from this principle that you can adopt into your life.

~ Heri za Kwanzaa ~

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Do You Know About Kwanzaa?

Every time I turn on the radio these during the holiday I hear Christmas music and the celebration of the 12 days of Christmas and 8 days of Hanukkah especially with all news surrounding the Meditteranean sea these days. However, there are many religious and cultural beliefs that celebrated around December into January. Most involve lighting candles to celebrate each day, gift giving, and a festive dinner made with the autumn/winter harvest for the last day of celebration. If you had any DNA testing than you'll probably be interested in celebrating or having a tradition based on your ancestry.

When I was a child everyone talked about celebrating Kwanzaa which is a fairly new celebration in the western hemisphere but this year it is turning 51 years old.  Most African-Americans descents come from the Akan-Bantu people, Senegal all the way down into Namibia. The tradition was founded by Dr. Maulana Karenga on the bases of Seven Principles and Symbols, also known as, "Nguzo Saba." Kwanza is Swahili and means "first fruits'' which is center around the last harvest of the year. The seven-day festival starts the day after Christmas and ends on New Year's day. In Africa, there is a festival called "Pongal" or "Yam Festival" which marks the end of an abundant food-producing harvest. It is also celebrated by Indians and South East Asian. "In Ghana, the Yam Festival (Homowo) lasts three days. The festival begins with a cleansing ceremony to honor family members who have died. Farmers give thanks to the gods who ensure a good harvest. Twins and triplets are honored during this time as a special gift from God"-Society for the Confluence of Festivals in India. In addition, African Yams are actually on the more starchy side similar to actually Yuca-root (Cassava) than our American counterparts the Sweet Potatoe which commonly called Yams when the sweet potatoes have been (stovetop) cooked or canned.

The colors of Kwanzaa are movement representing “unity” for peoples of African descent: Black for the people, red for the noble blood that unites all people of African ancestry, and green for the rich land of Africa. These colors are based on Hon. Marcus Garvey as national colors for African people throughout the world. In the coming days, I will be releasing the Seven Principles of the Kawaza leading up the celebration.

~ Heri za Kwanzaa ~

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My 2017 Favorite Podcasts

Hey Subbies,

The last six months of I've started listening to podcast thanks to Amy Lee of Vagabond Youth from YouTube. I've mostly got into listening to podcast about music and have ventured out to other cultural-media podcasts. Another major reason why I started listening podcast was that my job has the worst internet even for the public and I found an app that I use that allows me to download podcasts. Some of these podcasts have received numerous rewards and or on the top of the charts so hopefully, you can enjoy them as much as I do. I'm really thankful for that because it gets really quiet and boring because of the current situations with L.A. fires the internet is even worse than usual. I'm praying for everyone who are trying to survive these fires especially my friend who lives out there by Creek Fire.

Dissect is a serialized music podcast.
In a world creating and accessing more content than ever before, we’ve quickly become a scrolling culture, hurriedly swiping through this infinite swath of content that seems to replenish without end.
Dissect was created to counter this cultural shift.
We’ll step outside our new consumption habits and take our time analyzing pieces of music measure by measure, word by word.
To appease our new consumption habits, we’ll break up our analysis into short, easily digestible episodes.
Subcribe to Dissect now on iPhone, Stitcher, Google Play, iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.
Because great art deserves more than a swipe.

The Show
A podcast about the making and meaning of popular music hosted by musicologist Nate Sloan and songwriter Charlie Harding. We break down pop songs to figure out what makes a hit and what is its place in culture. We help listeners find "a-ha" moments in the music. Switched on Pop will make you laugh, dance, and ask ridiculous questions like: does the falsetto in One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful” essentially make them our modern day Castrati?

Producer/audio engineer/professional guitarist, Jake Jones and award winning producer/audio engineer, Robert Venable bring in legendary guests to pull back the curtain and give you a peek into the behind the scenes operation that keeps the music industry running like a well oiled machine. Is that machine starting to break down? Listen and decide for yourself.

The NodIn The Nod, a new podcast from Gimlet Media, co-hosts Brittany Luse and Eric Eddings gleefully explore all the beautiful, complicated dimensions of Black life.
Gimlet Media is the award-winning narrative podcasting company that aims to help listeners better understand the world and each other. Gimlet was founded in 2014 and is based in Brooklyn, New York. Gimlet podcasts are downloaded over seven million times per month by listeners from nearly 190 countries worldwide.

Represent is a space for discussion, highlighting movies, TV, and online shows created by and/or about women, people of color, people with disabilities, and those in the LGBTQ community. Join Aisha Harris as she dives deep into conversations with critics about the latest pop cultural news, and filmmakers about what they do and how they do it.

99% Invisible is about all the thought that goes into the things we don’t think about — the unnoticed architecture and design that shape our world. With over 150 million downloads, 99% Invisible is one of the most popular podcasts on iTunes (also available via RSS). 

99% Invisible started as a project of KALW public radio and the American Institute of Architects in San Francisco. Originally, host and creator Roman Mars produced 99% Invisible from his bedroom. Roman Mars is also a founding member of the podcast collective, Radiotopia.

 Welcome to Revisionist History a new podcast from Malcolm Gladwell and Panoply Media. Each week for 10 weeks, Revisionist History will go back and reinterpret something from the past: an event, a person, an idea. Something overlooked. Something misunderstood.

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