Long before the giant mall usurped the American urban landscape, Hallmark was cheapening our age-old religious traditions and turning nuanced theological messages into platitudinous feel-goodisms to be bought and sold in the marketplace. Out of a singular, sinister force, Hallmark conspired to transform a suffering servant into a jolly present-giver and a fundamentalist victory into a celebration of assimilation. Hallmark was late capitalism's ubiquitous signifier before Starbucks was in operation in Seattle and Disney was in operation in Times Square. "Hallmark moments" elicited mild forms of queasiness, a mix of nostalgia and sentimentality under the guise of the universal.
Perhaps, then, it's a good thing that Kwanzaa has all but vanished from the local greeting card store. But what led to its disappearance? And where did it go? As recently as 1993, Kwanzaa was America's fastest-growing holiday. I recall a chilly December evening of that year when on the campus of Brown University my girlfriend and I took a study break and paid a visit to the campus' Third World Center. We used to go there a lot--mostly when we detected the distinct aroma of free ethnic food. We waded through a throng of students of color to the buffet table, gathered some fried plantains and okra on a tiny paper plate and found some room in the corner to take in the scene. We knew that Kwanzaa honored African heritage, and soon learned that it meant "first fruits" in Swahili. The place was packed and the music was booming--A Tribe Called Quest (of course)--while red, black and green-clad bodies bobbed their heads in sync. That year Ben & Jerry's began making sweet potato ice cream, J.C.Penny offered Kwanzaa products in stores nationwide, local news stations wished their viewers a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy Kwanzaa, and Hallmark printed 12 different varieties of Kwanzaa-themed cards.
Fifteen years later, I publish an irreverent Jewish culture magazine called Heeb and immediate circles supply me with more anecdotal information about lower back pain than they do about Kwanzaa observance, but I still can't help but notice not noticing Kwanzaa at the greeting cards store. Certainly people are still celebrating the holiday, but clearly corporate America no longer seeks to capitalize on Kwanzaa the way it once did. At a time when a black man can be elected President, the powers-that-be seem to be saying African-Americans are much more ready embrace the de facto American civic religion, Christianity.
Multiculturalism was supposed to highlight our differences in radical ways, not transform them into different flavors of ice cream. But I worry about how Kwanzaa's disappearance will get understood. In a few years (if not already), Americans will probably remember it the way they remember parachute pants or the Rubik's cube--the irony, that removing Kwanzaa from the aisles of greeting card stores might end up forever enshrining it as a pop cultural relic. Meanwhile, the meanings of Christmas and Hanukkah continue to be contested and questioned as they reside in the marketplace, Whether it's gone because nobody knew how to sell it, or because nobody wanted to buy it, Kwanzaa is now nowhere to be found.
Joshua Neuman is the Publisher of Heeb Magazine. A graduate of Brown University and the Harvard Divinity School, he has taught undergraduate courses in the Philosophy of Religion at New York University, written for Slate, eMusic and ESPN and appeared on VH1, A & E and National Public Radio. His first book, The Big Book of Jewish Conspiracies, was published by St. Martin's Press in 2005.
Follow Joshua Neuman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joshuaneuman
Perhaps it's good that the huge corporations aren't profiting from Kwanzaa and those who've decided to practice its seven principles can do so in the true spirit.
http://www.star-telegram.com/living/story/1111193.html
That statement is wrong on so many levels...
First, you're complaining about the color of the guy's skin, AND NOTHING ELSE.
Sound familiar? Yeah me too.
Second, if you're trying to promote the legion of talented, hardworking and imaginitive black writers (like Walter Mosely for one), you get the failing grade. Personally I don't know what you really want, other than someone who's not white.
Air ball.
You can argue that there is a cultural divide in America. An idiot can see that. It's a freakin canyon between Baltimore and anywhere in Idaho. What you CAN'T argue is that a white person couldn't possibly understand or empathize. You can't argue that somehow they're outsiders simply because of the color line. That to me is as offensive as when whites have done it to me.
Third, yes there are many many many inequities to be overcome. Welcome to Earth.
I guess only Christians are allowed to discuss Christmas, and only Jews should mention Hannukka? The writer is commenting on a cultural issue from his viewpoint, he's not dissing anyone's holiday or beliefs, so what is the problem?
Ridiculous.
However, reality always bites.
I agree with you FabulousAt52. We are lucky not to have America's imperial corporate world miking Kwanzaa. African Americans and those who admit the true meaning of Kwanzaa has it right. People buying junk to give their lives some kind of meaning will never get it.
The Pagan spirituality was the starting point of today's money driven religions, is safe from the devalued holidays of today. They have no real value other than making money for the American corporations.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD-04G3_F7E
Yes, there are modern-day Pagans still around, people...still honoring [their own, personal] gods/goddesses, or not honoring any at all. But all Pagans celebrate the turning of the seasons,
and all things "universally natural".
The seasons change for us all... the sun rises and sets for us all. The daylight hours lengthen and shorten for everyone, everywhere.
Everyone everywhere plants and harvests crops, and in some form or another lives off of (and should be replenishing) the Earth. Spirituality based on nature and time. Just can't beat it.
Hopefully Hallmark and the corporate whores of consumerism will never leech onto the Pagan "holidays" and celebrations...
Real holiday or not-- Kwanzaa got off lucky if you ask me.
Nonetheless, I get tired of the whole debate over the minutia of African American versus black (or Black). I'm proud of my skin, I'm proud of where I come from. Call me black or African-American, whatever floats your boat. Can we stop arguing about it now?
If I'm going to get involved in anything truly African, then I'm going to Africa. I'm going to Ghana or Kenya or South Africa and I'll ask THEM what they value, and what their lives are like. Or there are blogs out of Africa, and many web sites where you can get news from the continent. I want the real deal, not just another Americanized version of Africa.
Africa has many cultures and languages. One American guy from the 60's can't possibly know which one is my heritage.
Anyone reading this can help the continent of Africa by volunteering, donating, keeping up to date on the issues facing Africa. Get involved. Do something. Anything. With or without Kwanzaa.
Yeah I get it--I'm "colonized", blah blah. That's yesterdays news, man. People are moving on, and a new generation doesn't have our experiences and doesn't share our bitterness. Things change way too slowly on this planet, but they change just as sure as you're born. Our children will have it better. How much better depends on how much we all get involved in the process beyond blogging.
Africa is made up of many countries, tribes, languages, religions. I never needed a ritual to know that.
We disagree about Kwanzaa. We've both had worse days than this my friend. I wish you well.
......where do you get your information from?...
...everything you say is FALSE...
...EVERYTHING.
.
The problem was the kids wanted the celebrate with their friends, not on New Year's Day.
Try reading, The African Origin of Modern Judaism, by Jose' V. Malcioln. Also, The Moses Mystery, by Gary Greenberg. I think you have this borrowing idea backwards.
And Tim Wise has made it more directly clear in his article, Santa, Jesus and the Symbolism of White Supremacy. So tell me should we stop this age old European lie? Not to mention stop trying to spread this lie into every country that we invade?
The message connected to black assertediveness has been delivered.
BTW, I'm 1st generation. Not one of my ancestors ever enslaved anyone. A tad racist and presumptuous for you to have made that silly remark, just because you disagree with my post, eh? What say? Low blow?
.
Halloween for that matter...
It must have seemed like a good idea at the time, but to me, Kwanzaa always reeked of desperation. The whole thing always just made me feel vaguely sad, not empowered.
And I don't think it was ever actually explained to me-- what exactly are we supposed to be celebrating, again? Maybe I was just supposed to embrace it because I'm black? Speaking of which, is this a holiday for black people only or what? Because a) that makes me uncomfortable, and b) I don't see why/how the various virtues of Kwanzaa are special to us. And finally, I call BS on the notion that it wasn't intended to be a "black Christmas." Why else choose that time of year? What about Kwanzaa has anything to do with that particular time of year?
I've never cared a bit for Kwanzaa. It was kind of like, "Here's a new holiday. Celebrate it because you're black, OK?" .
I was raised to think for myself. I hate when anyone of any color tries to tell me what I'm supposed to be/do/think/wear/say/believe because I'm black, so no thanks.
I think Kwanzaa is a made up excuse for separatism. My parents felt the same way and it never got any attention in our household as a child.
If I could find out what country my ancestors came from (my parents have been trying for years), I would love to know what customs and rituals they follow. What I don't need is a dude I never heard of making up holidays for me just because of my skin color.