Happy Kwanzaa!!!

[bart]

Did You have a Happy Kwanzaa?

An interesting history of our most acclaimed multi-cultural celebration!

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=25998

 

[jetexas]

Interesting. I kinda wondered where Kwanza came from. I didn't realize it was just another seperatist invention to be "different" attune to classifying oneself as "African-American" insead of just "American".

 

[414Flyer]

KWANZAA KOMEDY
By Kathy Shaidle
Published 12/16/2003 11:10:28 AM

'Twas the night before Kwanzaa
And all through the 'hood,
Maulana Karenga was up to no good.(1)
He'd tortured a woman and spent time in jail.(2)

He needed a new scam that just wouldn't fail.("So what if I stuck some chick's toe in a vice?Nobody said revolution was nice!")

The Sixties were over. Now what would he do?
Why, he went back to school -- so that's "Dr." to you!

He once ordered shootouts at UCLA
Now he teaches Black Studies just miles away.(3)

Then to top it all off, the good Doctor's new plan
Was to get rid of Christmas and piss off The Man.
Karenga invented a fake holiday.

He called the thing Kwanza.
"Hey, what's that you say?(4)

"You don't get what's 'black' about Maoist baloney?
You say that my festival's totally phony?

"Who cares if corn isn't an African crop?
Who cares if our harvest's a month or two off?

Who cares if Swahili's not our mother tongue?
A lie for The Cause never hurt anyone!

"Umoja! Ujima! Kujichagulia, too!
Collectivist crap never sounded so cool!

Those guilty white liberals -- easy to fool.
Your kids will now celebrate Kwanzaa in school!" (5)

And we heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight:
"Happy Kwanzaa to all, except if you're white!"(6)

SOURCES:
(1)http://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/
(2)http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=5251
(3)http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/charen123097.html
(4)http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=25998
(5)http://www.floridaradioactive.com/issues/Holidays/Kwanzaa_phony.htm
(6)http://www.melanet.com/kwanzaa/feelgood.html#pledge

 

[skyking1976]

414 Flyer, that was HILARIOUS!!!!

 

[VNugget]

unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith

THE HORROR!!!

 

[Noam]

Hmm, well at least the African Americans are behaving more like white Americans now.

Columbus Day - Columbus responsible for taking the land away from millions of native people and killing them.

Thanksgiving - Similar to the above, sans Columbus.

While I don't think it is appropriate to celebrate either Columbus Day or Kwanzaa (from reading the above link) I don't think I have the right to critcize Kwanzaa either, since we unfortunately celebrate tyrants as well.

Whether the snake is black or white, it is still a snake.

 

[bart]

What do you mean you have no right to criticize Kwanzaa? Columbus singlehandedly chased the Native Americans off their land and established the free United States just so you could have the right to criticize anyhting you want.

You may not FEEL like criticizing either holiday, but you danm
sure have the right.

 

[Dieterly]

Chas, you must be a italian grease bag, eah?

 

[empenage]

I just picked myself off the floor....414Flyer that was funny.

Jetexas:

Can I be a "Aviation American"? I want to separate myself from the rest of the country too.

Now all we need is a holiday!!

 

[Bluto]

Chas, your statements make me wonder how much you know about your ancestors.

"I am still waiting to hear how my ancestors ( italian) are to blame for slavery or treating native americans and Japanese like crap."

First off, Columbus was very likely not the first European to visit the Americas, there were probably visitors from Greenland/Iceland prior to his arrival as well as many other possibilities. Perhaps you haven't heard about them since they didn't start a major transoceanic slave-trade.

How about this brief quote from a letter Columbus wrote to Ferdinand and Isabella regarding Haiti in 1496:

"In the name of the Holy Trinity, we can send from here all the slaves and brazil-wood which could be sold."

Columbus also started the Encomienda system in Haiti. Under this system he "commended" entire villages to spanish and italian colonists. Many of the indians under this system chose suicide rather than endure slavery.

"Which brings in the restitution deal everyone wants restitution for something that happened 100 or even 60 years ago ."

I don't care about restitution. Most people don't, but I do care about getting the facts straight. Columbus wasn't shy in his journals about detailing his own acts of cruelty. I don't disagree that he had a major role in revolutionizing the world. I don't necessarily agree with the way in which he did it.

According to Bartolome De las Casas:
"What we committed in the Indies stands out among the most unpardonable offenses ever commited against God and mankind and this trade (slaves) as one of the most unjust, evil, and cruel among them."

 

[dmspilot00]

And I thought that this country and two continents were named after an Italian.

 

[Super 80]

414Flyer, that was really good. I especially liked the bibliography. I'm going to have to save it for grins.

 

[TWA Dude]

Re: Kwanzaa Bah humbug

where I work they dumped columbus day for Martin Luther king day Can we say political correctness ??

Can we just say, "correctness"? Columbus had no alrtruistic intent and he was sent by the rulers overseeing the Spanish Inquisition. MLK preached only peace and non-violence during a period of severe civil unrest. You have a strange sense correctness.

Note: this post was not meant in any way to be anti-Italian or Spanish. Columbus' "discovery" was indeed historically important yet that doesn't mean the man was somebody worthy of taking pride in. Incidentally it's likely that ancestors of mine were expelled from Spain in 1492 during the Inquisition.

Dude

 

[Nikes]

MLK was a good guy... besides its just a day off, whats the big deal? Like Chris Rock said, its not like you have to go do something black on that day.

And the same with Kawanzaa, some people choose to celebrate it; oh well. That is the beauty of America we can do what we want. Now, the guy who "invented" Kwanzaa maybe a tool but, that is between him and God. I'm all for unity, but there is nothing wrong in celebrating our differences in culture in this great country, as long as they are celebrate and not hated. (hey that kinda rhymed maybe, I should become a rap artist...)

Nikes

 

[AV8OR]

Wow! Way to stir the pot!

However, I thought it was correctly greeted as "Merry Kwanza!", not "Happy".

 

[Bluto]

Chas,
I never accused you of loving anyone. However, you did ask how italians contributed to the slave trade. I answered. Your points about most people being sold into slavery by their own people are highly suspect to me. How do you justify that statement? Show me the numbers. I won't argue that there have been many atrocities commited by countless peoples in our history. I just don't understand why we should celebrate those atrocities (columbus day) while eschewing the achievements of a great man (MLK), who was responsible for great good (and the last time I checked, selling no one into slavery).

That said, I also agree that Italians have made major historical contributions to the growth of the United States. As have the Chinese, Irish, English, French, and countless other cultures. I fail to see your point.