Today is the 1st day of Kwanzaa!
If you don’t already know about Kwanzaa, I encourage you to check it out and maybe think of folding a bit more meaning and purpose into the last week of the year. It is the celebration of African culture throughout the diaspora, but you don’t need to be African to celebrate African culture.
If you like jazz, R&B, hip hop, blues, or good ol’ rock & roll, that’s a cause to celebrate.
If you like corn bread, greens, red beans & rice, catfish, fried chicken or sweet potatoes, you can celebrate.
If you enjoy watching mainstream sports, that’s a reason to celebrate.
If you are a fan of freedom, equality, and self-determination, let’s celebrate.
If you value community, prosperity, creativity and purpose, it’s time to celebrate!
Even if you don’t feel comfortable actually doing full-on Kwanzaa, you can do something Kwanzaa-adjacent like self-educating about black history and culture, supporting black-owned businesses, or donating or volunteering locally.
In this current political culture that blatantly and unapologetically favors light skinned bodies over darker skinned bodies, it feels like it’s our democratic duty to lift up and honor (without co-opting, if it’s not your own) all the ways African culture has contributed to what we think of as American culture.
What else do you have going on until New Year’s anyway?
Celebrate. Build community. Be an ally.