Today’s photo of the day shows the incomparable Eartha Kitt, who passed away yesterday after a battle with colon cancer. From her classic rendition of “Santa Baby” to her award-winning roles on film, stage, and television, Ms. Kitt represents the best of our tradition. She will be sorely missed. R.I.P.

Today’s video of the day is a Barbershop Classic. It comes from the legendary Pastor Kerney. This one always makes me laugh!

Today’s Embarrassing Negro Moment comes from Jesse Lee Peterson. This might take the ENM Award for the year.

I get the principles. But wearing kente cloth and knowing Swahili words doesn’t make me any more authentic.

The Trouble With Kwanzaa
By Erin Evans
OK, this may not be politically correct to say, but I just don’t get what’s up with Kwanzaa. Our family celebrated it two or three times in the ’90s. We had a kinara, handmade by my Uncle Calvin; the seven candles, three red ones for the struggle, three green ones for hope and a black one for our people. Before bed we’d say a few words, light a candle and quickly blow it out, because mom never liked lighting candles in the house. She’d give us each a book—the standard gift for Kwanzaa celebration.

And the whole thing lasted about five minutes total. My brother and I were generally too tired or too unenthused to light the candle every night, so we’d just torch two the night after we missed one. We never took it seriously. And the words, none of us ever really got the words. Koo-jee-cha-goo-lee-ya. Self-determination. We were determined, all right. Determined not to take any of it too seriously.

The Black Candle , which debuted this fall and is the first feature film on Kwanzaa, highlights the celebration’s seven principles: Umoja (unity), Kujichagulia (self-determination), Ujima (collective work and responsibility), Ujamaa (cooperative economics), Nia (purpose), Kuumba (creativity) and Imani (faith) through a series of street interviews and conversations. Interviewees include hip-hop pioneer Chuck D, poet and lecturer Haki Madhubuti, visual artist Synthia Saint James, author Amiri Baraka and the creator of Kwanzaa, Maulana Karenga.

The documentary, narrated by Maya Angelou, was mesmerizing. It delved deep into history to give Kwanzaa’s purpose and meaning a backdrop. I felt guilty watching it, knowing that I had been so glib all these years about the pan-African celebration of black family, community and culture. But I’m not going to front. It’s still not my thing.

And I know I’m not alone. Ask the five closest black people to you if they celebrate Kwanzaa. Ask them to break down what it all means and how they’ve incorporated it into their holiday traditions. Turn to someone sitting next to you right now, and ask them to tell you about their Kwanzaa celebrations.

Exactly.

For all the commemorative stamps and Hallmark cards and other official ways of working it into the other big December rituals, Kwanzaa’s just never really broken through on a large scale.

When Ron Everett (see Karenga, Maulana) thought up Kwanzaa, it made sense. It was 1966, the black power movement was jumping. It fit right in with black is beautiful mantras, pan-African ideals and black nationalism. Say it loud….! All that swagger begged for a celebration just for us.

For the rest of the story, click here.

On Justice And O. J. Simpson:

Thursday, December 11, 2008

On Justice And O. J. Simpson:

“Looks like O. J. finally screwed up big time.”

“He really never stood a chance, what with Johnnie Cochran dead and no immediately apparent rhyme to exonerate him.”

“The NBA will always have better criminals if you ask me.”