Let's celebrate Kwanzaa

Quote: Wizard

(Cooperative economics) --

In other words, communism.

from the recent Hanukkah thread,

Quote: Pacomartin

http://www.cc.com/video-clips/mvygd0/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-oy-to-the-world

They are a lot younger in this video taken 20 years ago.

Love the joke at the end, where Colbert says something like, ''yes, the Jewish people should be very proud of Hanukkah, at least it's still bigger than Kwanzaa, at least for now"

Well, blow me down, I forgot about Kwanzaa this time. Thank you for reminding me.

Today is day one of Kwanzaa, which celebrates Unity.

Quote: Wizard

Well, blow me down, I forgot about Kwanzaa this time. Thank you for reminding me.

A recently invented nothing holiday
that almost nobody celebrates. It
was big in the 80's among Blacks
and then it died a quick death from
being boring and meaningless.

Meaningful holidays evolve and have
a purpose. Like Xmas and Easter. They
were originally powerful holidays
celebrating the Winter solstice and
the Spring equinox. They date back
thousands of years. Xtionity appropriated
them because they so ingrained in
pagan culture.

Kwanzaa was invented for no apparent
reason, and that's how people treat it.

I bet more people celebrate Festivus than Kwanzaa (at least in the U.S.).

Quote: Evenbob

Kwanzaa was invented for no apparent
reason, and that's how people treat it.

I've never been in doubt about why it was invented, it was to give a counter-balance to celebrating Christmas in the White way. Apparently it never competed directly with Christmas, always starting on the 26th, so I guess you can say it attempts to avoid the charge that it is intended to replace Christmas. I think of it that way though.

Officially though, via googling this comes up, "designed ... as a celebration of African American family, community, and culture". Well, yeah, as I was saying!... I suppose you have to read between the lines.

Quote: odiousgambit

Officially though, via googling this comes up, "designed ... as a celebration of African American family, community, and culture". Well, yeah, as I was saying!... I suppose you have to read between the lines.

I don't want to speak for another race, but we have Chinese New Year, Cinco de Mayo, a host of Jewish holidays, but is there any widely accepted and celebrated black holiday? MLK jr.'s birthday, you might say. Other than a parade, at best, does anyone really celebrate MLK on that day? I file it with Labor Day, you're happy to have the day off, but don't give much thought as to why. Be honest. I think Kwanzaa was a well meaning attempt to celebrate black culture, but it just never caught on. Much like MLK jr.'s birthday, it seems contrived.

Again, I hate to even speak on the topic. I'd love to hear the thoughts of a black American, but I highly doubt there are any here.

Quote: Wizard

Again, I hate to even speak on the topic. I'd love to hear the thoughts of a black American, but I highly doubt there are any here.

I can tell you what I have seen and there are many blacks that take MLK day as a near religious holiday. Placed I worked my assistant manager immediately asked if he could have it off. A different guy really thought it "took forever" to make it a holiday when took just 20 years. IMHO someone should be dead 50 years before we even discuss that kind of thing. A woman at another place was very upset when she found out how much he slept around on his wife. She asked if I knew that and I said I knew for years.

Contrived or not, I do not even bring it up and avoid discussing it if it is brought up.

Kwanzaa, OTOH, I have never met a black person who knew anything about it much less cared. Other than as a joke.

Clearly I am negative towards Kwanzaa. I wouldn't care about it one way or the other as far as actual 'feelings' toward it, except that local TV stations promoted it hard starting around 1980, I'd say, and continue promoting it hard today I'd bet*, even though it has been, and continues to be, a complete flop. It's just Virtue Signaling. If you don't have negative feelings about it at least in this regard**, then phony people don't bother you generally.

*I watch so little of local TV channels now I wouldn't actually know

**The Wizard is forgiven since his capacity for curiosity is so enormous, I'd call it that, and not Virtue Signaling

Happy day two of Kwanzaa. Today's principle is Kujichagulia, which means self-determination.