WE are in the middle of the African-centred Kwanzaa observances, which began in 1966 as an African- American celebration. It started as part of the Black Nationalist opposition to Christmas, which was seen as a Euro-centred observance, but it has overtime emerged as a separate and distinct cultural force among African peoples all over the world. Professor Maluana Karenga, the founder of Kwanzaa, saw it as a means of reconnecting Black people in the diaspora to their African roots—a central tenet of the Black Power movement of the 1960s-1970s. It is estimated that in 2016, 20-30 million people worldwide celebrate Kwanzaa.
Here in Guyana, the African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA), the best known African Guyanese cultural organisation, has for the last two decades led the way in observing Kwanzaa. Hundreds of Guyanese have joined in the observances which have emerged as the second most important event on the African-Guyanese cultural calendar. Although it has not been designated a national holiday, the week-long observances have benefited from the holidays surrounding the Christmas season. It should be noted that Guyana has long played a major role in the global African movement with ACDA’s predecessor, the African Society for Cultural Relations with Independent Africa (ASCRIA), being the pioneer Black Power-era organisation in the Anglophone Caribbean and a leading force in the Black cultural revolution of that time.
The Kwanzaa observance is premised upon seven principles of African heritage or Nguzo Saba, which is part of the Swahili culture of South-Eastern Africa. The Swahili language, although not a language of West Africa, the epicentre of the Atlantic Slave trade, had emerged as the language of the Pan-African movement of the latter half of the 20th century. The seven principles which capture the cultural praxis of Africa and the African diaspora are as follows:
Umoja (Unity): To strive for and to maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race; Kujichagulia (Self-Determination): To define and name ourselves, as well as to create and speak for ourselves; Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility): To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers’ and sisters’ problems our problems and to solve them together; Ujamaa : To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together; Nia (Purpose): To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness; Kuumba (Creativity): To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it; Imani (Faith): To believe with all our hearts in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.
For us in Guyana, the first principle, Umoja, is particularly important. Unity or the lack thereof has been a central concern within the African-Guyanese community and among the diverse cultural communities in the country. While the enslaved Africans arrived in the Americas as a very diverse group, the experience of enslavement engendered a new Pan-African identity that was premised on a shared experience of subjugation on heritage. That unity of heritage and experience was pivotal in the construction of the unity of purpose that was most manifested in the Village Movement, whereby the freed Africans instantly bought lands and created the villages which we today call communities.
Unfortunately, over the last few decades, despite charges of external manipulation of the group, African-Guyanese organisations have found it difficult to unite around a common agenda. When last was there a summit of African-Guyanese organisations aimed at addressing the challenges of the community? From what we have observed, each group seems to be doing its own thing while the plight of the collective remains unattended. We noted a recent complaint by ACDA that the Opposition Leader did not consult with African-Guyanese organisations in relation to the list of nominees for the chairmanship of GECOM. While ACDA’s complaint is in order, perhaps that organisation should reflect on the state of consultations among African-Guyanese organisations.
Speaking at the Cuffy250 annual Forum in August, President Granger bemoaned this lack of united purpose and challenged the African organisations to come up with an action plan. To the best of our knowledge, despite some early movement in that direction, such a plan has not been submitted to the President. We have seen media reports of an ACDA plan, but not the larger plan the President asked for. Based on our reports, this crisis of Umoja (unity) is replicated in the communities across the country where community organisations and leaders find it difficult to work together for the common good. It is ironic that the villages, the symbols of united action, have become symbols of disunity.
So, as we observe Kwanzaa, we urge Africa- Guyanese leaders and organisations to think beyond narrow celebration and use the opportunity to reflect on the state of the community in relation to the principles of the observances. It is time African-Guyanese organisations engage in some self-criticism and soul- searching on the extent to which they have not lived up to the Kwanzaa principles. In the end, leadership matters. That said, Happy Kwanzaa to African-Guyanese and Guyana. May the spirit of the ancestors shine positive light in the new year.