kwanzaa week
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The Women of GirlTrek, in Their Literal Movement for Black Women, Radiate Collective Work and Responsibility
The Kwanzaa principle for today, Dec. 28, is Ujima: Collective Work and Responsibility. Ujima means building and maintaining our community together and making our brothers’ and sisters’ problems our problems while solving them together. Vanessa Garrison and Morgan Dixon, the founders of GirlTrek, embody the principles of collective work and responsibility. Their eight-year-old outfit organizes black…
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Habari Gani?! Kujichagulia! Marshawn ‘Spark the Blunt’ Lynch Goes Beast Mode for Self-Determination
For each day of Kwanzaa, the African-American cultural holiday that eschews the typical commercialism of the holiday season, we will be highlighting a person or persons from the past year who exemplifies the principle of the day. Kwanzaa was created in 1966 to uplift a sense of community through the principles of unity, self-determination, collective…
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Dispatches From The Kwanzaa Kid: Stories About the Turkey Bacon of Holidays
I like turkey bacon. I realize that turkey bacon is essentially a ribbon of bologna meat, but as someone who grew up in a super-religious household and was raised by an uber-religious mother, I never had bacon (or any of the popular pork-related meats) until I was an adult. Don’t get me wrong, I knew…
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Habari Gani?! Imani! The Black Women of Alabama Embodied Faith in 2017
Faith. George Michael crooned about it; black people in America somehow maintain it—even if it’s the size of a mustard seed—time and time again. Faith, or Imani, is the last principle of Kwanzaa, the weeklong black cultural holiday started more than half a century ago. This entire week, for each day of Kwanzaa, The Root shone…
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Habari Gani?! Kuumba! Robin Thede Embodied Creativity in 2017
This year, for each day of Kwanzaa, The Root is highlighting one person from the community who exemplifies the principle of the day. On the sixth day of Kwanzaa, Dec. 31, the principle is Kuumba, or “creativity.” To practice Kuumba is to do always as much as we can, in the way that we can,…
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We Need to Talk About the Teddy Pendergrass Kwanzaa Carol
[This post originally ran on Dec. 30, 2017.] If you’re reading this, it’s too late. I’m pretty sure I’m either dead, in “the upside down” or caught in some existential interdimensional prank show hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson. This can’t be real life. Someone should call up Willie D or Scarface, because I think I…
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Habari Gani?! Nia! Colin Kaepernick Embodied Purpose in 2017
This year, for each day of Kwanzaa, The Root is highlighting one person from the community who exemplifies the principle of the day. On the fifth day of Kwanzaa, Dec. 30, the principle is Nia, or “purpose.” To practice Nia is to make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order…
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Ankara, Ankhs and the Ongoing Appropriation-vs.-Appreciation Argument: Is There a Right Way to Rock African Style?
We’ve been celebrating Kwanzaa Week here at The Root, which, for The Glow Up, also meant thinking up new outfits to wear for each night of the festivities celebrating the seven principles of what many lovingly call “Black Hanukkah.” Fun fact: I love African fashion, iconography and decor; always have. I love wax prints (yes,…
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Habari Gani?! Ujamaa! Chance the Rapper Embodied Cooperative Economics in 2017
This year, for each day of Kwanzaa, The Root is highlighting one person from the community who exemplifies the principle of the day. On the fourth day of Kwanzaa, Dec. 29, the principle is Ujamaa, or “cooperative economics.” To practice Ujamaa is to build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to…