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Today marks the beginning of a cultural holiday in the African American community called Kwanzaa. Kwanzaa is not a religious holiday, nor does it seek to replace any other nationally celebrated holidays. It is purely a select time period every year where families or individuals in the African American community come together to remember and recognize certain principles that they would like to have operating in their lives.
At the end of the year, many people in general, take the time to "review" or reflect on the year that they have just completed living, and set intentions for the New Year approaching. Just about everyone does this, not just African Americans. By virtue of the Law of Attraction, what you focus on expands, and if you set an intention, you are launching a rocket of desire for the new year.
Kwanzaa is a dedicated holiday in the African American community where they can come together for once and celebrate "all things black" in a positive and fruitful light. The intentions behind the holiday are different for every family, but there are seven "ngozo saba," (en-go-zo-SA-baa) which is Kiswahili for principles: Umoja, Kujichagulia, Ujima, Ujamaa, Nia, Kuumba, and Imani.
December 26th marks Umoja (ooh-MO-jah), which means unity. This is the first principle because obviously, in order to come together to effect considerable change, there needs to be some sort of a unified disposition within a community. The first place to begin would be in the house, with family, if you can. If not, then consider being with others in a unified manner on this day, and recognize the energy of the environment. Notice how when people gather for a common cause, there is usually congruence, which begets positive, powerful creation energy.
December 27th is when Kujichagulia (koo-jee-cha-goo-LEE-yah) is recognized. Kujichagulia means self-determination. This is based on the idea of self-examination: learning what you can do as an individual, contributing to the community at large, to help the greater cause of peace and unity. Historically, African Americans have always been undefeatable meaning that no matter the inhumanness of the slaughter, the African spirit would prevail. This resilient spiritual essence is what's recognized on this day.
December 28th marks Ujima (ooh-JEE-mah), collective work and responsibility. This is the day where African Americans are encouraged to consider how they perceive and "deal with" other African Americans. Again, historically, part of the control mechanism used to weaken the African man and woman slave was to create separation between them by belittling or even castrating the man in front of the female and the male child, to separate lighter and darker skinned slaves, and to have either house or field negros. Then drugs were introduced into the African American community to encourage fratricide, so the race would destroy themselves. Ujima encourages African Americans to look beyond the lenses of oppression and begin to see others in the black community as family and extensions of Source Energy, being able to live with each other, work together and take care of each other, instead of hating and continuously fighting one another.
December 29th marks Ujamaa (ooh-jah-MAH), cooperative economics. One way to contribute to positive growth in the African American community is to spend money within that community. This principle encourages African Americans to support and patronize business, services and organizations owned and/or operated by African Americans. Many cultures and religious groups do this to keep their community close knit and strong. However, it's sadly different in the African American community because many are distrusting (both the merchant and the customer). On this day, remembering and incorporating ujamaa helps to perpetuate a positive influx of resources within the African American community. Surprisingly the African American population has considerable buying power; however, most of the buying is happening in the consumer market, outside of the African American community. If a fraction of the buying power of African Americans were filtered back into black-owned businesses, a positive turn-around can occur.
December 30th, my favorite principle is recognized: Nia (NEE-uh), which means purpose. The name of my corporation is The NIA Project, Inc., which is dedicated to helping people to recognize, understand and live out their purposes. This is the day where people in the African American community are encouraged to really take a deep look at themselves (strengths, weaknesses, ambitions, desires) identify or uncover what the true meaning is behind their lives... to answer the questions, "Why am I here? What am I doing to or for my community? Where can I be of service, value and benefit to my community? How can I make a difference?"
December 31st, New Year's Eve is also Kuumba (koo-OOHM-buh), the principle of creativity. This is the day where imagination is amplified. How exciting! This is where the Law of Attraction can be activated to start drawing unto us the ideal circumstances and vision for the African American community. This is day where summoning creative energy to manifest in a positive way is at the forefront of thought! This is powerful! Each day has been a day of creation, but this particular day, the imagination gets to explore limitless possibilities and opportunities to effective change in the community. With this type of collective thought process happening all over the country in black households, numerous energies in the cosmos are coming together to work on the community's behalf. This is a very powerful principle to remember, recognize and practice.
The last principle of Kwanzaa is the first day of the new year, Imani (ee-MAH-nee), which means faith. How fitting for the asking, to resolve with belief that it is so, All is Well, and it is done. In the African American community, the word Ashé is used to mean "so be it" or "it is so" or "I agree." This is similar to Amen. To really allow the Law of Attraction to bring everything that you're asking, there needs to be the belief that "it is so," and so it is. There needs to be the belief that what has been asked for is taken care of and already complete, and the release or detachment from the outcome can occur, which accelerates the manifestation. Faith is believing in the unseen as real, and having already occurred. Going into the new year, it is passed on during the last day of Kwanzaa to maintain your faith that everything over the past six days will remain during the new year, and since All is Well, the rest is just a matter of the physical manifestation of the asking. What a marvelous and empowering way to begin the new year!
Although Kwanzaa was created to bring the black community together, the principles above can be Universally applied no matter the race or separator of choice. They are virtuous principles that anyone can live by and benefit from, and contribute positively to the overall global consciousness shift that's taking place.
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