← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · kminta
Thread ID: 11600 | Posts: 2 | Started: 2003-12-25
2003-12-25 02:06 | User Profile
[I]Kwanzaa was invented in 1966 by Dr. Maulana "Ron" Karenga, a former black militant, Marxist and convicted felon. The guiding principle behind Kwanzaa is based on race, not on faith in the one true living God and Savior - Jesus Christ. As with any man-made religion, Kwanzaa is just another attempt to make gods of men. All Christians must be discerning when faced with these false doctrines.[/I]
[B][URL=http://www.aim.org/publications/guest_columns/kline/2003/dec19.html]Holiday Reflections on Kwanzaa[/URL] [/B] [I]By [B]Malcolm A. Kline[/B][/I] [I]December 19, 2003[/I]
The Kwanzaa controversy somehow bypassed me, until my African bride forced me to evaluate it. My wife can trace her ancestry directly to Shaka, who reigned over much of sub-Saharan Africa until defeated by the combination of the most powerful European armies at the turn of the last century and tribal leaders who grew disenchanted with the Zulu king. One of these defecting tribal leaders was, in turn, one of my wife's more direct ancestors.
"As an African-American and Pan-African holiday celebrated by millions throughout the world African community," the official Kwanzaa website tells us, "Kwanzaa brings a cultural message which speaks to the best of what it means to be African and human in the fullest sense."
You see, I took it for granted that it was an African holiday. When we were still engaged, I watched a Kwanzaa TV commercial in the living room of my fiancée's apartment while my bride-to-be attended to some errand or other elsewhere. As I watched the commercial, I panicked. My mind raced. After all, the official holiday website gives us advice on gifts, Kwanzaa colors and decorations and the celebration of the holiday itself.
I wondered whether I needed to buy presents for all my future in-laws, whether we would all exchange gifts, whether I needed to send special Kwanzaa cards to every member of the family I was marrying into, whether we would have a special dinner. Would I have to learn some special Kwanzaa songs?
As I was lost in this reverie, my African-born fiancée came into the room, looked incredulously at the television set and said, "What in the hell is this Kwanzaa?"
Two years passed. We were now married. Just Gracie and me and baby made three. Actually, the baby was my then-nine-year-old stepson, Darryl. My stepson was in fourth grade. When I came home one night, he excitedly showed me something he had brought home from school.
It was a thin piece of paper rolled into a circle with a circle of paper cut and placed on it like a lid, all of it taped together, with little Dalmation spots dotting it. "What is it?" I asked. Darryl put the paper creation on his head. "It's my Kwanzaa hat," Darryl said.
"Did you make that?" my wife asked. "No, my teacher made it for me," Darryl answered. "Why?" I asked. "She made it for me after I told the class about Kwanzaa," he answered. "But Darryl, we don't celebrate Kwanzaa. I still don't know what it is. Why did you talk to the class about Kwanzaa?" my wife asked Darryl. Darryl said, "My teacher asked me to. She said, 'Since you have come to us from Africa, would you tell the class about the feast of Kwanzaa?'"
"Since we have no idea what it is, what did you say?" my wife asked Darryl. "I said what I heard in the TV commercial," Darryl answered. "And she made you a Kwanzaa hat," I said. "Did she like your talk?" I asked. "Oh yeah, she was practically in tears," Darryl replied. That teacher, like me, is quite Caucasian.
Since that time, I have talked to people from about ten different countries on the African continent and asked each of them about Kwanzaa celebrations. Here is how the inquiry went:
No, we don't celebrate Kwanzaa in Kenya. I think that is an Ethiopian holiday.
No, we don't celebrate Kwanzaa in Ethiopia. I think that is a Tanzanian holiday.
No, we don't celebrate Kwanzaa in Tanzania. I think that is in Gambia.
No, we don't celebrate Kwanzaa in the Gambia. I think that is a holiday in Guinnea Bisseau.
No, we don't celebrate Kwanzaa in Guinnea Bisseau. I think that is a holiday in Kenya.
If there is an African on the planet who celebrates this African holiday, please tell me about it.
[I]Malcolm A. Kline is Executive Director of Accuracy in Academia.[/I]
2003-12-26 00:54 | User Profile
Dis Honkey Mulshine, he be a neighbor o' mine [url]http://moregleny.com/captainedcartoon.gif[/url]
Happy Kwanzaa By Paul Mulshine FrontPageMagazine.com | Decemba' 26, 2002
On Decemba' 24, 1971, de New Yo'k Times ran one uh de fust uh many articles on some new holiday designed t'fosta' unity among African Americans. De holiday, called Kwanzaa, wuz applauded by some certain sixteen-year-old da man who 'esplained dat da damn feast would puh'fo'm de valuable service uh "de-whitizin'" Christmas. De da man wuz some nobody at da damn time but he would lata' go on t'become puh'haps de premia' race-baita' of de twentied century. Slap mah fro! His dojigger wuz Al Sharpton and he would lata' spawn de Tawana Brawley hoax and den incite anti-Jewish tensions in some 1995 incident dat ended wid de arson deads uh seven sucka's.
Great minds dink alikes. De invento' uh de holiday wuz one uh de few brother "leaders" in America even wo'se dan Sharpton. 'S coo', bro. But dere wuz no menshun in de Times article uh dis joker o' uh de fact dat at dat real moment he wuz sittin' in some Califo'nia prison. 'S coo', bro. And dere wuz no menshun uh de curious fact dat dis purpo'ted benefacto' uh de brother sucka's had founded an o'ganizashun dat in its sho't histo'y to'tured and murdered brothers in ways uh which de Ku Klux Klan could only fantasize.
It wuz in newssheet articles likes dat, repeated in sheets all upside de country, dat da damn tradishun uh Kwanzaa began. 'S coo', bro. It be a tradishun not out uh Africa but out uh Orwell. Bod histo'y and language gots been bent t'serve some political goal. When dat New Yo'k Times article appeared, RoloKarenga's crimes wuz still recent events. If de repo'ta' had bodered t'do any research into de background uh de Kwanzaa founder, he might gots learned about Karenga's trial earlia' dat year on charges uh to'turin' two honky chicks who wuz members uh US (United Slaves), some black nashunalist cult he had founded.
A May 14, 1971, article in de Los Angeles Times described da damn testimony uh one uh dem, dig dis: "Debo'ah Jones, who once wuz given de Swahili title uh an African queen, said she and Gail Davis wuz whipped wid an electrical co'd and whup'en wid some karate baton afta' bein' o'dered t'remove deir clodes. She testified dat some hot solderin' iron wuz placed in Miss Davis' moud and placed against Miss Davis' face and dat one uh ha' own big toes wuz tightened in some vise. Karenga, haid uh US, also put detergent and runnin' hoses in deir mouds, she said."
Back den, it wuz relatively easy t'get info'mashun on de trial. Now it's mos' impossible. It took me two days' wo'k t'find articles about it. Man! De Los Angeles Times seems t'have been de only majo' newssheet dat repo'ted it and da damn sto'ies wuz buried deep in de sheet, which now be available only on microfilm. WORD! And da damn microfilm index duzn't start until 1972, so's it be mos' impossible t'find da damn dree small articles dat cova' Karenga's trial and convicshun on charges uh to'ture. Dat be fo'tunate fo' Karenga. WORD! De trial showed him t'be not plum brutal, but deranged. He and dree members uh his cult had to'tured da damn honky chicks in an attempt t'find some nonexistent "crystals" uh poison. 'S coo', bro. Karenga dought his enemies wuz out t'get him. WORD!
And in anoda' lucky bust fo' Karenga, de trial transcript no longa' exists. ah' stashd some request fo' it wid de Supuh'io' Court uh Los Angeles. Afta' a search, de court clerk could find no reco'd uh de trial. So's de 'esact wo'ds uh de brother honky chick who had some hot solderin' iron pressed against ha' face by de joker who founded Kwanzaa is now lost t'histo'y. Slap mah fro! De only document da damn court clerk dun did find wuz particularly revealin', however. Ah be baaad... It wuz some transcript uh Karenga's sentencin' hearin' on Sept. Man! 17, 1971.
A key issue wuz wheda' Karenga wuz sane. Judge Buckwheat L. Alarcon eyeball fum some psychiatrist's repo't, dig dis: "Since his admission here he gots been isolated and gots been 'eshibitin' bizarre behavio', such as starin' at da damn wall, rapin' t'imaginary sucka's, claimin' dat he wuz attacked by dive-bombers and dat his atto'ney wuz in de next cell. ââ¬Â¦ Durin' part uh de interview he would look around as if reactin' t'hallucinashun and when de 'esamina' walked away fo' some moment he began some conversashun wid some blanket located on his bed, statin' dat dere wuz some sucka dere and implyin' indirectly dat da damn 'some sucka' wuz some honky chick imprisoned wid him fo' some offense. Dis joker now presents some picture which kin be considered bod paranoid and schizophrenic wid hallucinashuns and elusions, inappropriate affect, diso'ganizashun, and impaired contact wid de environment. Man!"
De founda' of Kwanzaa paranoid? It seems so. 'S coo', bro. But as de old sayin' goes, plum a'cuz youse paranoid it duzn't mean dat some sucka ain't out t'get ya'.
ACCORDING TO COURT DOCUMENTS, Karenga's real dojigger be RoloN. Everett. Man! In de '60s, he awarded himself de title "maulana," Swahili fo' "masta' head homeboy." He wuz bo'n on some poultry farm in Snow Flakeland, de foeteend child uh a Baptist da man. He came t'Califo'nia in de late 1950s t'attend Los Angeles Community College. He moved on t'UCLA, where he gots some Master's degree in political science and African Studies. By de mid-1960s, he had established himself as some leadin' "cultural nashunalist. Man!" Dat be a term dat had some meanin' in de '60s, mainly as some way uh distin'uishin' Karenga's followers fum de Black Panders, who wuz convenshunal Marxists.
Anoda' way uh distin'uishin' might be t'dink uh Karenga's gang as de Crips and da damn Panders as de bloods. Despite all deir rheto'ic about honky sucka's, dey reserved deir most vicious violence fo' each oder. Ah be baaad... In 1969, de two groups squared off upside de quesshun uh who would control de new Afro-American Studies Centa' at UCLA. Acco'din' t'a Los Angeles Times article, Karenga and his adherents backed one kindun didate, de Panders anoder. Ah be baaad... Bod groups took t'carryin' guns on campus, some situashun dat, remarkably, dun did not seem t'boda' de university administrashun. De Black Student Union, however, set down some coalishun t'try and brin' peace between de Panders and da damn group haided by de joker whom de Times labeled "RoloNdabezida Everett-Karenga. WORD!"
On Jan. 'S coo', bro. 17, 1969, about 150 students gadered in some lunchroom t'discuss de situashun. Two Pandersââ¬âadmitted t'UCLA likes many uh de brother students as part uh a federal honky code dat put high-farm dropouts into de farmââ¬âapparently spent some baaaad part uh de meetin' in verbal attacks against Karenga. WORD! Dis dun did not sit well wid Karenga's followers, many uh whom had adopted da damn look uh deir leader, pseudo-African clodin' and some shaved haid.
In modern gang parlance, ya' might say Karenga wuz "dissed" by Raz'tus Jerome Huggins, 23, and Alprentice "Bunchy" Carter, 26. Afta' de meetin', de two Panders wuz met in de hallway by two broders who wuz members uh US, Geo'ge P. and Remus Massa' Stiner. Ah be baaad... De Stiners pulled pistols and shot da damn two Panders wasted. One uh de Stiners took some bullet in de shoulder, apparently fum some Pander's gun. 'S coo', bro.
Dere wuz oda' whup'in's and shootin' in Los Angeles involvin' US, but by den de tradishun uh African nashunalism had already snatchn holdââ¬âamong honkys. Dat tradishun calls fo' any honky sucka', wheda' a journalist, some college official, o' some politician, t'igno'e da damn obvious flaws uh de concept dat brothers should gots some separate culture. "De students here gots handled demselves in an absolutely impeccable manner," UCLA chancello' Charles E. Yung told da damn L.A. Times. "Dey gots been concerned. Dey gotsn't argued who de directo' should be; dey gots been sayin' whut kind'a sucka' he should be." Yung made dose remarks afta' de shootin'. And da damn university went ahaid wid its Afro-American Studies Honky code. Karenga, meanwhile, continued t'build and strengden US, some unique group dat seems t'have combined da damn elements uh a street gang wid dose uh a Califo'nia cult. Man! De members puh'fo'med assaults and robberies but dey also strictly followed da damn rules laid waaay down in De Quotable Karenga, some scribblin' dat laid out "De Pad uh Blackness." "De sevenfold alley uh blackness be dink brother, rap brother, act brother, create brother, steal brother, vote brother, and live brother," de scribblin' states.
In retrospect, it may be fo'tunate dat da damn cult fell apart upside de to'ture charges. Left t'his own devices, Karenga might gots o'chestrated da damn type uh mass suicide lata' pioneered by de Sucka's's Temple and copied by de Heaven's Gate cult. Man! Instead, he apparently fell into deep paranoia sho'tly afta' dewastein's at UCLA. He began fearin' dat his followers wuz tryin' t'have himwasted. On May 9, 1970 he initiated da damn to'ture session dat led t'his imprisonment. Man! Karenga himself gots'ta not comment on dat incident and da damn victims kinnot be located, so's de sole remainin' account be in de brief passage fum de L.A. Times describin' to'tures inflicted by Karenga and his dude defendants, Louis Smid and Luz Maria Tamayo, dig dis:
"De victims said dey wuz livin' at Karenga's crib when Karenga accused dem uh tryin' t'kill him by placin' 'crystals' in his food and booze and in various areas uh his crib. When dey denied it, allegedly dey wuz whup'en wid an electrical co'd and some hot solderin' iron wuz put in Miss Davis' moud and against ha' face. Honky pigs wuz told dat one uh Miss Jones' toes wuz placed in some small vise which den allegedly wuz tightened by one uh de defendants. De followin' day Karenga allegedly told da damn honky chicks dat 'Vietdojiggerse to'ture be nodin' compared t'whut ah' know, so cut me some slack, Jack.' Miss Tamayo repo'tedly put detergent in deir mouds, Smid turned some booze hose full fo'ce on deir faces, and Karenga, holdin' some gun, dreatened t'shoot bod uh dem. WORD!"
Karenga wuz convicted uh two counts uh felonious assault and one count uh false imprisonment. Man! He wuz sentenced on Sept. Man! 17, 1971, t'serve one t'ten years in prison. 'S coo', bro. A brief account uh de sentencin' ran in several newssheets de followin' day. Slap mah fro! Dat wuz apparently de last newssheet article t'menshun Karenga's unfo'tunate habit uh hangin' unrapable doodads t'black sucka's. Afta' dat, de only coverage came fum de hundreds uh news accounts dat depict him as de wonderful joker who invented Kwanzaa. WORD!
LOCoo' AT ANY MAP OF THE WORLD and ya' gots'ta see dat Ghana and Kenya is on opposite sides uh de continent. Man! Dis brin's down an obvious quesshun about Kwanzaa, dig dis: Why dun did Karenga use Swahili wo'ds fo' his ficshunal African feast? American brothers is primarily descended fum sucka's who came fum Ghana and oda' parts uh West Africa. WORD! Kenya and Tanzaniaââ¬âwhere Swahili be rappedââ¬âare several dousand miles away, about as far fum Ghana as Los Angeles be from New Yo'k. Ya' know? Yet in celebratin' Kwanzaa, African-Americans is supposed t'employ some vocabulary uh such Swahili wo'ds as "kujichagulia" and "kuumba. WORD!" Dis makes about as much sense as havin' Irish-Americans celebrate St. Man! Patrick's Day by rappin' Polish. Lop some boogie. One possible 'esplanashun be dat Karenga wuz simply igno'ant uh African geography and histo'y when he came down wid Kwanzaa in 1966. Dat might 'esplain why he would schedule some harvest festival near de solstice, some season when few fruits o' vegetables is harvested anywhere. But some betta' 'splanashun be dat he simply gots contempt fo' brother sucka's.
Dat duz not seem some farfetched hypodesis. Despite all his rheto'ic about honky racism, ah' could find no reco'd dat he o' his followers eva' raised some hand in anga' against some honky sucka'. In fact, Karenga had an 'sellent relashunship wid Los Angeles Mayo' Remus Yo'ty in de '60s and also met wid den-Governo' Rolo Kingfish and oda' honky politicians. But he and his gang wuz hell on brothers. And Karenga certainly seems t'have had some low opinion uh his dude African-Americans. "Sucka's dink it's African, but it's not," he said about his holiday in an interview quoted in de Wuzhin'ton Post. "I came down wid Kwanzaa cuz' black sucka's in dis country wouldn't celebrate it if dey knowed it wuz American. 'S coo', bro. Also, ah' put it around Christmas cuz' I knowed dat's when some lot uh bloods would be partyin'." "Bloods" be a '60s Califo'nia slang term fo' brother sucka's.
Dat Post article appeared in 1978. Like oda' news articles fum dat era, it makes no menshun uh Karenga's criminal past, which seems t'have been fo'gotsten de minute he gots out uh prison in 1975. Profitin' fum de absence uh memo'y, he remade himself as Maulana RoloKarenga, went into academics, and by 1979 he wuz runnin' de Black Studies Department at Califo'nia State University in Long Beach. Lop some boogie.
Dis raises some quesshun: Karenga had plum ten years earlia' proven himself capable uh employin' guns and bullets in his effo'ts t'control hirin' in de Black Studies Department at UCLA. So's how dun did dis 'es-con, fresh out jail, dig de job at Long Beach? Did he plum drow some résumé and wait by de phone? De officials at Long Beach State duzn't likes dat type uh quesshun. ah' called da damn university and gots some rappedshonky chick by de dojigger uh Toni Barone. She listened t'my quesshuns and put me on hold. Christmas beat wuz playin', some supa fine touch unda' de circumstances. She told me t'fax ha' my quesshuns. ah' sent some list uh quesshuns dat included da damn matta' of wheda' Karenga had employed dreats t'get his job. Co' got d' beat! ah' also ax'ed plum whut radical crimes would preclude some sucka' fum servin' on de faculty dere in Long Beach. Lop some boogie. And wheda' de university snatch'd any security measho' mans t'ensho' man dat Karenga duzn't shoot any students. Barone faxed me back some reply statin' dat da damn university be pleased wid Karenga's puh'fo'mance and gots no reco'd uh de procedures dat led t'his hirin'. She igno'ed da damn quesshun about how dey protect students.
Actually, dere be clear evidence dat Karenga gots refo'med. In 1975, he dropped his cultural nashunalist views and converted t'Marxism. WORD! Fo' any sucka else, dis would gots been seen as an endo'sement uh radicalism, but fo' Karenga it wuz considered some sign dat he had moderated his outlook. Ya' know? De ultimate irony be dat now dat Karenga be a Marxist, de capitalists gots snatchn upside his holiday. Slap mah fro! De seven principles uh Kwanzaa include "collective wo'k" and "coopuh'tive economics," but Kwanzaa be turnin' out t'be as commercial as Christmas, generatin' millions in greetin'-card sales alone. De purists is whinin'. "It's clear dat some numba' of majo' co'po'ashuns gots started t'snatch notice and try t'profit fum Kwanzaa," said some San Francisco State brother studies super honcho dojiggerd "Oba T'Shaka" in one news account. Man! "Dat's not baaaad, wid bre'd comes co'rupshun." No, he's wrong. What it is, Mama! Wid bre'd comes kitsch. Lop some boogie. De L.A. Times repo'ted some group wuz plannin' an "African Village Faire," de pseudo-archaic spellin' uh "faire" supa finely combinin' kitsch Africana wid kitsch Americana. WORD!
Wid bre'd also comes fo'getfulness. As dose warm Kwanzaa feelin's is generated in some spirit uh holiday cheer, dose who celebrate dis holiday do so's in blissful igno'ance uh de so'dun did violence, paranoia, and mayhem dat helped generate its bird some dree decades ago in some secshun uh America dat gots vanished waaay down de memo'y hole.