Make This Kwanzaa Different
For seven days between the Christmas holiday and New Year’s Day each year some African American families observe Kwanzaa. Kwanzaa has been designated as the time for us to gather around a set of seven common principles. Kwanzaa is the time when we reflect on the greatness of our ancestors, and their great many sacrifices. This year, let’s start to think about how Kwanzaa can also be a time for healing.
When Kwanzaa was founded, it was developed so that families would come together in spite of ideological or religious differences. This is why the first principle is Umoja, or Unity. Born out of the Black Power movement Kwanzaa places the Self-Determination of Black people as the second core principle, Kujichagulia. In fact the use of Swahili, an African language of trade, is used to give the principles a cultural identity distinct from mainstream American terms.
During Kwanzaa we talk about the third principle, Ujima, or Collective Work and Responsibility. Usually within the context of Kwanzaa, here work implies working towards or building something that will add value to African American communities. Responsibility is tied to work to remind us that all of our work should be guided by ethics of stewardship. Work and livelihood often go hand-in-hand, which leads to the fourth principle of Ujaama, Cooperative Economics. This principle reminds us that supporting local small businesses is a part of maintaining a healthy, sustainable community.
To be sure Kwanzaa is where political ideology merges with rituals of spiritual practice. The fifth principle, Nia, urges us to consider our Purpose. On the day of the sixth principle we celebrate the spirit of Kuumba, or Creativity. And finally on the last day of Kwanzaa we look to what sustains us: Imani, Faith. Spiritually grounded, yet politically driven, Kwanzaa has given Black America an ideological framework to organize families in community around. Since Kwanzaa is a time for gathering as a community, the holiday offers us an opportunity to engage in healing intergenerational trauma.
As it is sometimes recognized these days, we are our ancestors’ wildest dreams come true. We get to be free in ways that they could only have imagined while they lived on this earth. Their stories live on through us, deep within each of us. We carry their resilience, as well as their wounds, in our bodies. One important way we can honor our ancestors this Kwanzaa is by healing the wounds we have inherited.
We have to ask ourselves: Are we still inflicting the cycle of violence in the ways we discipline our children? Can we openly talk about our Mental Health challenges and hold space for one another? How has the incarceration of a family member affected the rest of us? What trauma is at the root of Addiction, and can we confront this pain? Why do we react the way we do in our relationships to one another?
These are worthwhile conversations to have before heading into a new year. Because if we do the work now we can break cycles of violence and begin to heal. As laid out in the seven principles of the Nguzo Saba, our physical, spiritual, economic, and mental health are all linked. Taking care of each aspect of our relationships will ensure our lives are in a healthy balance. When we heal the past we can move forward. In this way, taking steps toward healing our intergenerational trauma is also a form of Reparations, meaning to repair the harm done. The more of this collective work we do and the more responsibility we take on now towards our own healing, the greater the gift we pass on to future generations.
