Celebrating Kwanzaa

since kwanzaa was created in the 1960s I think it's easier to "modify" it to fit your family. it was essentially created as a way to strengthen the black family. you can add elements of it and make it a general family celebration. according to the official kwanzaa website by the creator of the holiday Dr. maulana Karenga, anyone can participate in Kwanzaa. [url]http://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/faq.html[/url] most black folks i know don't celebrate kwanzaa. some acknowledge it on a small level, while others (like myself) make fun of it at times. we have enough to worry about with xmas and dh's birthday in early january. can't add more stuff, lol.

I also like some of the prinicples of Kwanzaa but would feel weird celebrating a new holiday, and couldn't cram one more thing into my life during the holiday season. No way am I giving up tinsel and glitter for dried corn, either. Really, I think the principles behind Kwanzaa are honored and celebrated in other ways in our family, year-round. If my kids ever ask me about it, I think I would just discuss the prinicples with them and let them decide how their lives express the principles they value. None of dh's huge aa family celebrates Kwanzaa, and none of the aa people we know locally do either. So if your kids don't have any experience with it, that won't make them stand out as different in most groups of black folks.

We did not get to Kwanzaa this year since our placement was so new. Next year we'll do it if DD wants to. We do also celebrate Chinese New Year (Parade, parties,food,etc) for our son. Nikki -Adoptee, Bio Mom, A-Mom, Fost-Adopt Mom

We did most everything. We put out our kinara, mkeka, muhindi, you name it. On the first night of Kwanzaa we attended a local festival that was great. There was a jazz singer, the pouring of libations to the ancestors, Afrikan drummers and dancers, a slam poet, kids doing a play and a reading and a Copoiera Angola group. There was also great food at intermission. There were several people that we knew there. Throughout the week we lit the kinara each night and discussed the principle. We went out for soul food one night. All in all we had a good week. We never did officially have the karamu or feast, because of other plans interfering. I do know that most African American families don't celebrate it. However, they are able to transmit their culture to their children effortlessly. I can't do that. So, I feel that things like Kwanzaa better help me instill pride in my children.

I was interested in celebrating Kwanzaa this year but our 10 y.o. has never celebrated it and wasn't too interested. She thought it was the same thing as Hannukkah and for some reason thought celebrating it would require us to "wear funny hats." :p Since we were a little exhausted from Christmas I didn't get to it anyway. Maybe next year.

WE did our attempt, I agree with ahimsa, when you are of the same culture you dn't have to make the same efforts to make sure the children have awareness, though sometimes that can be a mistake too (so says the lady with the bioNA daughter :) Anyways, we did make a kinera, a pitiful thing, will have to look online to buy one next year, my daughter made a mat (it wound up being too small for the kinera) and we lit a candle each night and talked about it's significance. That was about it, for our first, unguided attempt, I think we did okay. By the time Hannah is old enough to know what's going on, hopefully we'll be doing better with it.

joskimo - we totally did a low key Kwanzaa last year, which was our first year. We lit the kinara each night and talked about the principle, but that was about it. This year we did a lot more to teach the kids about it. I'm sure with each year it will get better. The cool thing is that one of our kids' best friends and her family was at the Kwanzaa festival we attended, so that seemed to help validate it for the kids.

Just wanted to chime in.....we already celebrate both Hannukah and Christmas, so we thought adding another thing might be too much. So we checked out a few childrens books about each holiday and spent time reading them to the girls the past few weeks. Even if we were too tired to celebrate we acknowledged and honored each tradition.

I agree that families with aa kids but no aa adults can't transmit aa culture as effortlessly as families with aa parents....but, at the same time, I think a lot of white parents raising AA kids may be trying too hard or judging themselves for not trying harder, when in reality just by being aware of the need to transmit positive self-images to their AA kids they have an awful lot of AA families beat, hands down. I think those of us who are cc and raising AA kids picture AA families rather idealistically transmitting black pride and cultural positives to their kids, and in reality a lot of what is transmitted in AA families is black shame and self-loathing. My AA inlaws watch Amos n'Andy on tape, not as a history lesson about offensive stereotypes about Black people, but because they think the shows are funny. MIL won't eat any foods that are black (black beans, black coffee, black bottom pie, etc.), because "everyone knows" they will make you darker. BIL felt he had to prepare his mom for the possibility that the baby he and his wife were expecting might be "dark skinned" because his wife's father was--knowing that if he didn't prepare her and the baby came out dark she would make negative remarks. (Baby #1 was light, but #2 was darker and we've all heard what a "shame" it is). The AA mother of one of my daughter's classmates came over and asked me within hearing of our kids if I knew any Italian plasterers, because those she had contacted via the newspaper ads were black and "you know they aren't going to do a good job!" Etc., etc. So, for those of you who are worrying whether you will be able to do an adequate job instilling confidence and pride in AA kids, or who are thinking you should try harder with things like Kwanzaa, it may help to know that just by thinking about it, you are doing a lot more than some of the folks you may think of as imparting culture effortlessly.