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Kwanzaa
Kwanzaa () is an annual celebration of African-American culture from December 26 to January 1, culminating in a communal feast called ''Karamu'', usually on the sixth day. It was created by activist Maulana Karenga, based on African harvest festival traditions from various parts of West and Southeast Africa. Kwanzaa was first celebrated in 1966. History and etymology American Maulana Karenga created Kwanzaa in 1966 during the aftermath of the Watts riots as a specifically African-American holiday. Karenga said his goal was to "give blacks an alternative to the existing holiday of Christmas and give blacks an opportunity to celebrate themselves and their history, rather than simply imitate the practice of the dominant society." For Karenga, a major figure in the Black Power movement of the 1960s and 1970s, the creation of such holidays also underscored the essential premise that "you must have a cultural revolution before the violent revolution. The cultural revolution gives ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karamu (feast)
Kwanzaa () is an annual celebration of African-American culture from December 26 to January 1, culminating in a communal feast called ''Karamu'', usually on the sixth day. It was created by activist Maulana Karenga, based on African harvest festival traditions from various parts of West and Southeast Africa. Kwanzaa was first celebrated in 1966. History and etymology American Maulana Karenga created Kwanzaa in 1966 during the aftermath of the Watts riots as a specifically African-American holiday. Karenga said his goal was to "give blacks an alternative to the existing holiday of Christmas and give blacks an opportunity to celebrate themselves and their history, rather than simply imitate the practice of the dominant society." For Karenga, a major figure in the Black Power movement of the 1960s and 1970s, the creation of such holidays also underscored the essential premise that "you must have a cultural revolution before the violent revolution. The cultural revolution gives ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karamu (feast)
Kwanzaa () is an annual celebration of African-American culture from December 26 to January 1, culminating in a communal feast called ''Karamu'', usually on the sixth day. It was created by activist Maulana Karenga, based on African harvest festival traditions from various parts of West and Southeast Africa. Kwanzaa was first celebrated in 1966. History and etymology American Maulana Karenga created Kwanzaa in 1966 during the aftermath of the Watts riots as a specifically African-American holiday. Karenga said his goal was to "give blacks an alternative to the existing holiday of Christmas and give blacks an opportunity to celebrate themselves and their history, rather than simply imitate the practice of the dominant society." For Karenga, a major figure in the Black Power movement of the 1960s and 1970s, the creation of such holidays also underscored the essential premise that "you must have a cultural revolution before the violent revolution. The cultural revolution gives ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maulana Karenga
Maulana Ndabezitha Karenga (born Ronald McKinley Everett, July 14, 1941), previously known as Ron Karenga, is an American activist, author, and professor of Africana studies, best known as the creator of the pan-African and African-American holiday of Kwanzaa. Born in Parsonsburg, Maryland, to an African-American family, Karenga studied at Los Angeles City College and the University of California, Los Angeles. He was active in the Black Power movement of the 1960s, joining the Congress of Racial Equality and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. In 1965, Karenga and Hakim Jamal co-founded the black nationalist group US Organization, which became involved in violent clashes with the Black Panther Party by 1969. In 1971, he was convicted of felony assault, torture, and false imprisonment of women. He denied involvement and claimed the prosecution was political in nature. Karenga was imprisoned in California Men's Colony until he received parole in 1975. In 1966, Karenga n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kinara
The kinara is a seven-branched candleholder used in Kwanzaa celebrations in the United States. History Shortly before the first celebration in 1966, Maulana Karenga searched for a candle holder with seven holes in which he and the other US Organization members could use to celebrate the first Kwanzaa. However, absent the presence of a handcrafted kinara, two holders were broken from a Hanukkah menorah which was then used to hold the seven candles. The following year, US Organization member Buddy Rose-Aminifu crafted the first kinara. Early photographs of the first kinara show that it was of rudimentary design, being a wooden log with holes drilled into it to support the candles. Description During the week-long celebration of Kwanzaa, seven candles are placed in the kinara—three red on the left, three green on the right, and a single black candle in the center. The word ''kinara'' is a Swahili word that means ''candle holder.'' The seven candles represent the Seven ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kinara
The kinara is a seven-branched candleholder used in Kwanzaa celebrations in the United States. History Shortly before the first celebration in 1966, Maulana Karenga searched for a candle holder with seven holes in which he and the other US Organization members could use to celebrate the first Kwanzaa. However, absent the presence of a handcrafted kinara, two holders were broken from a Hanukkah menorah which was then used to hold the seven candles. The following year, US Organization member Buddy Rose-Aminifu crafted the first kinara. Early photographs of the first kinara show that it was of rudimentary design, being a wooden log with holes drilled into it to support the candles. Description During the week-long celebration of Kwanzaa, seven candles are placed in the kinara—three red on the left, three green on the right, and a single black candle in the center. The word ''kinara'' is a Swahili word that means ''candle holder.'' The seven candles represent the Seven ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pan-African Flag
The Pan-African flag (also known as the Afro-American flag, Black Liberation flag, UNIA flag, and various other names) is a tri-color flag consisting of three equal horizontal bands of (from top down) red, black, and green. The Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) formally adopted it on August 13, 1920, in Article 39 of the Declaration of the Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World, during its month-long convention at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Variations of the flag can and have been used in various countries and territories in the Americas to represent Garveyist ideologies. History The flag was created in 1920 by members of UNIA in response to the "coon song", a late nineteenth century craze for songs that belittle and mock African Americans and imitated of stereotyped AAVE speech, that became a hit around 1900 " Every Race Has a Flag but the Coon". This song has been cited as one of the three songs that "firmly e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
African-American Culture
African-American culture refers to the contributions of African Americans to the culture of the United States, either as part of or distinct from mainstream American culture. The culture is both distinct and enormously influential on American and global worldwide culture as a whole. African-American culture is a blend between the native African cultures of West Africa and Central Africa and the European culture that has influenced and modified its development in the American South. Understanding its identity within the culture of the United States, that is, in the anthropological sense, conscious of its origins as largely a blend of West and Central African cultures. Although slavery greatly restricted the ability for Africans to practice their original cultural traditions, many practices, values and beliefs survived, and over time they have modified and/or blended with European cultures and other cultures such as that of Native Americans. African-American identity wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wrapper (clothing)
The wrapper, lappa, or pagne is a colorful garment widely worn in West Africa by both men and women. It has formal and informal versions and varies from simple draped clothing to fully tailored ensembles. The formality of the wrapper depends on the fabric used to create or design it. West African kaftan/boubou In West Africa, a kaftan or ''caftan'' is a pull-over woman's robe. In French, this robe is called a boubou, pronounced ''boo-boo''. The boubou is the traditional female attire in many West African countries including Senegal, Mali and other African countries. The boubou can be formal or informal attire. The formality of the kaftan depends upon the fabric used to create or design it. Yoruba iro In Yorubaland, Nigeria, the wrapper is commonly, called an ''iro'' in the Yoruba language, pronounced ''i-roh''. The literal translation is "the act of wrapping." The wrapper is usually worn with a matching headscarf or head tie that is called a ''gele'' in Yoruba, pronounced ''ge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Umkhosi Wokweshwama
Umkhosi Wokweshwama ("first fruits festival"), recently also known as ''Umkhosi Woselwa'' ("calabash festival"), is the annual harvest festival of the Zulu people, observed around the December solstice. It takes place at the Enyokeni Royal Palace in Nongoma, KwaZulu-Natal, and is presided over by the Zulu King, who conducts a tasting ceremony as sacred king, closed by the dashing of a calabash to signify that the people may now enjoy the fruits of the harvest; this role was historically expanded by Shaka to have more military significance with a muster and parade. It was revived by the current king's father, the late King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu in 1990, after a ban by British colonial authorities following the 1879 Battle of Isandlwana and Zulu defeat in the Anglo-Zulu War (the last was held in winter 1877–78, though some claim continuity as a less elaborate event). The festival has mass participation by young men, as Umkhosi woMhlanga has by young women. There i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ujamaa
Ujamaa ( in Swahili) was a socialist ideology that formed the basis of Julius Nyerere's social and economic development policies in Tanzania after it gained independence from Britain in 1961. More broadly, ujamaa may mean "cooperative economics", in the sense of "local people cooperating with each other to provide for the essentials of living", or "to build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together". Ideology and practice In 1967, President Nyerere published his development blueprint, the '' Arusha Declaration,'' in which he pointed out the need for an African model of development and that formed the basis of ujamaa as policy. The Swahili word ''ujamaa'' means 'extended family', 'brotherhood'; it asserts that a person becomes a person ''through the people'' or community. The spirit of 'others' or 'community' bringing units of families together, and fostering cohesion, love, and service. Nyerere used Ujamaa as the basis for a n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around the world. A Calendar of saints, feast central to the Christian liturgical year, it is preceded by the season of Advent or the Nativity Fast and initiates the season of Christmastide, which historically in the West lasts Twelve Days of Christmas, twelve days and culminates on Twelfth Night (holiday), Twelfth Night. Christmas Day is a public holiday in List of holidays by country, many countries, is celebrated religiously by a majority of Christians, as well as Christian culture, culturally by many non-Christians, and forms an integral part of the Christmas and holiday season, holiday season organized around it. The traditional Christmas narrative recounted in the New Testament, known as the Nativity of Jesus, says that Jesus was born in Bet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pan-Africanism
Pan-Africanism is a worldwide movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous and diaspora peoples of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the movement extends beyond continental Africans with a substantial support base among the African diaspora in the Americas and Europe. Pan-Africanism can be said to have its origins in the struggles of the African people against enslavement and colonization and this struggle may be traced back to the first resistance on slave ships—rebellions and suicides—through the constant plantation and colonial uprisings and the "Back to Africa" movements of the 19th century. Based on the belief that unity is vital to economic, social, and political progress and aims to "unify and uplift" people of African ancestry. At its core, pan-Africanism is a belief that "African people, both on the continent and in the diaspora, share not merely a common history, but a c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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