Greetings Black people, if you have been celebrating Kwanzaa for the first time I hope that it has been a good experience. If not and you are still considering, there are three days left. I left you earlier in the week with some ways to observe the Nguzu Saba, the seven principles of Kwanzaa. This blog entry will continue with the last of the principles. check blog name

Nia (Today December 30, 2010)

  • Nia translates as “purpose.” Kwanzaa started because of a need to resurrect the life of a people destroyed by slavery and colonialism. According to our holiday’s founder, Dr. Maulana Karenga , today should be a day of evaluating our commitment to that cause.
    • The activity I have in mind for this one deals with writing biographies. First, place the names of all your participants in a hat. Beyond that, have each person pull a name; the name they pull will be the person that they will write a biography about.  The biographies should highlight that person’s contribution to the reawakening of their people, among other recognizable purposes.

Kuumba (Friday December 31, 2010)

  • “Creativity.” In addition to the artistic sense of the word, creativity refers also to the ability to adapt or make the most out of little. Dr. Karenga stresses the importance of this quality because it allows a deep preservation of the people.
    • To capture both senses of creativity, this activity demands some imagination and artistic ability. Before the night begins, create some damming situations where the desirable option for resolution is not an option. When the time comes, distribute the situations to each participant. The person has to figure out a way to legally and integrally deal with the situation. Upon having an idea, the person must act it out.

Imani (Saturday January 1, 2010)

  • “Faith.” A great downfall for anyone or a people is the loss of faith. Faith is the relentless energy behind waking up every day and giving that day meaning. It is the perfect culmination of the Nguzo Saba as it is what bonds it all together.  
    • The only right way to observe this principle is to allow everyone to express appreciation of their people.

Thank you all for joining me this year for Kwanzaa. I hope that more of our people become comfortable with determining their culture by welcoming this holiday into their tradition. We usually say Habri gani? (roughly translated as “What’s happening?”) at the beginning of the day. But I will leave it as a conclusion.

Habri gani? Kwanzaa Fante.