La Shawn Barber has a post up called Kwanzaa With Commentary that provides some great background into Kwanzaa:
Kwanzaa was invented in 1966 by Dr. Maulana “Ron” Karenga, a former black militant, Marxist and convicted felon. Claiming to have the unity of black people in mind, Karenga committed most of his crimes against blacks.
Just five years after his invention, he was convicted of torturing two black women by stripping them naked, beating them with electrical cords, placing a hot iron into the mouth of one and mangling the toe of the other in a vice. During the ordeal, he forced them to drink detergent.
Kwanzaa is not celebrated in our house nor is it acknowledged. It has nothing to do with race. About five years ago, we looked into it because we have a black daughter and she expressed an interest. The first person we asked was our neighbor, Charlie Price – the Reverend Charlie Price. Pastor Price is also a retired Army Sergeant Major. He is in his 70’s and still going strong as the pastor of Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church in Lakewood, WA. Even at his age, he’s an imposing figure at about 6’4” and about 225 lbs. I’m sure that you’ve figured out by now that Pastor Price is black.
To make a long story short, Price’s answer wasn’t what I expected to hear. We got a short lecture (sermon) on Kwanzaa and Christianity. Price laid it on the line. Kwanzaa isn’t Christian. It was made up out of pagan beliefs and Christian people shouldn’t mess with it. (I condensed about a 15 minute talk/lesson/ sermon) Needless to say, our daughter has never bothered with it since.
Charlie Price is quite possibly the best neighbor anyone could have. He still stops by to talk even though we moved away several years back. He is a man who practices what he preaches.
If you feel you need to celebrate Kwanzaa, go ahead. This is America and you can celebrate most anything you want. If someone were to say to me, “Happy Kwanzaa”, I wouldn’t get upset but it’s not like someone wishing me Happy Chanukah either. Kwanzaa is the fabrication of a racist and evil man. Not something I really want to be associated with. Neither should you.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
VW
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