“It takes a village to raise a child”-African Proverb
This widely quoted African Proverb reminds us that our external relationships (friendships and community-based networks) influences mind-set, freedoms and potential of our children. iKwanzaa believes embracing Kwanzaa is an essential empowerment step to position ourselves to better manage cultural and social issues. We believe each individual in the African American Community plays a vital part in our collectively advancement. Our name iKwanzaa reflects this belief.
.::::The NGUZO SABA-Seven Principles of Kwanzaa::::.
1. Umoja, Unity
2. Kujichagulia, Self-determination
3. Ujima, Collective Work and Responsibility
4. Ujamaa, Cooperative Economics
5. Nia, Purpose
6. Kuumba, Creativity
7. Imani, Faith
We believe iKwanzaa is more than a personal reminder to actively embrace the principles of Kwanzaa–it is a call to action– a way to stay rooted culturally.
We encourage you to apply the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa in my your life.
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A ritual is the enactment of a myth, and myths are stories of our search thru’ the ages for truth, meaning, and significance. We all need to tell and understand our story. When we make no provision for the passing on of our story thru’ ritual many people seek and find their own? This is one of the significant reasons we have gangs. The lack of inclusion and belonging within British society is one of the factors that have led street gangs to create their own rituals, value system, and nihilistic mythology. The current issues facing many black men cannot be presented in manipulated statistical breakdowns, distorted media representations, or historical inaccuracies. However the ‘Invisible’ data is contained within the overrepresentation of black men in prison and mental institutions. Inflated status categories and negative social labelling is in itself a barrier to meaningful and productive relationships between black men, as those narrow definitions deal with a set of ideas that seldom provides the opportunity for a common and shared value system. Staying connected to one’s roots includes being in tune with the history and struggles of one’s people. Sankofa the mythical bird from West Africa whose head faces backwards symbolises and validates the need to ‘’go back and retrieve’ from the past as a way of realigning ourselves to a future and acts as a pathway to understanding the present. It could be argued that the need to re-investigate the past as a possible pathway towards reframing our current value system could hold some serious possibilities in the discourse that will enable black men to transcend their current overrepresentation within the prison system, as well as a conduit towards reconcilliation with our women.
Many kudus to the creator(s) of ikwanzaa.com….the seven principles listed are essential for the survival od black race/history