..

..
ENDARKEN
VIEWPOINT

 ..
Issue: Kawaida

Question:  Dr. Maulana Karenga created Kwanzaa, based upon the premise of KAWAIDA:

"that social revolutionary change for Black America can be achieved by the act of revealing and disclosing individuals to their cultural African heritage."

Each year, on January 1st, Dr. Karenga suggests that we ask ourselves the three (3) Kawaida questions:

  1. Who am I? 
  2. Am I really all I say I am? 
  3. Am I all I ought to be?

I invite you to ask yourself the three (3) Kawaida questions, above, and then to volunteer your answer(s) to any or all of these questions, for posting, below [in alphabetical order by last name].
..

Prema Qadir, ENDARKEN Moderator
12/26/99 - 01/07/00
..

Esco Babatunde
January 01, 2000
  1. Who am I? 
    I am the reflection of my Father.
    ..
  2. Am I really all I say I am?
    Yes.
    ..
  3. Am I all I ought to be?
    I am still in the making. Thank goodness.

..

Maaskelah Khemet
 January 04, 2000

  1. Who am I? 
    I am a reflection of the Divine, created in the image of the Divine, and a constant manifestation of all that is Divine.
    ..
  2. Am I really all I say I am?
    Yes, even when I'm not acknowledging it, or manifesting what I view as my highest expression of who I am.
    ..
  3. Am I all I ought to be?
    No, but I am consciously and daily striving to be that highest expression of the Divine in me, in order to encourage that same manifestation from others.

Lorenzo Kibler
 January 05, 2000

  1. Who am I? 
    I am a male of African ethnicity, involved in the struggle for truth, justice, & righteousness for people of color and especially people of African ethnicity.
    ..
  2. Am I really all I say I am?
    Yes.
    ..
  3. Am I all I ought to be?
    No.

Bianca Morris
January 05, 2000

  1. Who am I? 
    The sum of my thoughts.    .
    ...
  2. Am I really all I say I am?
    Yes.
    ..
  3. Am I all I ought to be?
    At this point, yes, but progress is mandatory.

Prema Qadir
 January 04, 2000

  1. Who am I? 
    I am a non-white person, a Black female.  I reside in the United States of America.  I identify myself with non-white people all over the world, specifically Black people all over the world.

    I am the descendant of Black African people and some white people whom I do not know.  My paternal Grandfather could have passed for a white man, but he never did. According to my Father's research, we are descendants of people in Mauritania, West Africa, who were kidnapped and enslaved to the original 13 colonies of the United States of America. 

    On my Mother's side of the family, my Grandparents were born in Georgia, USA, and migrated North to the Great Lakes state of Michigan, before my Mother was born. They left the South to find employment in the North.

    That's all I know about my Family Tree.  I hope to learn more someday.

  2. Am I really all I say I am?
    My Dad was an executive manager at a major automotive corporation; he was a "Black militant" and he taught Black History in his spare time.  My Father and Mother divorced when I was a kid, so, I didn't get to see my Dad much, during his lifetime. The year that my Dad died, 1996, we spent one month together. We never found the time to fully review our family tree.  I don't have any "proof" of my African ancestry or my relationship to the people of Mauritania, West Africa or my relationship to any white person(s). 

    Despite the fact that I cannot trace my roots back to Africa, I believe that they are there. I believe that I am descended from Black African people who were enslaved, during the Maafa, aka Middle Passage, aka African Holocaust.  I am convinced that my people were bought to the United States of America, against their will.

    I am a warrior for justice.
    THAT much I DO know.

  3. Am I all I ought to be?
    I ought to be a "human being".  I ought to be treated like a "human being". I believe that when racism [white supremacy] is replaced with justice, then all people [white and non-white] can be "all" we OUGHT to be.

Kawaida is the premise "that social revolutionary change for Black America can be achieved by the act of revealing and disclosing individuals to their cultural African heritage."

-- Dr. Maulana Karenga
Creator of Kwanzaa

ENDARKEN VIEWPOINT
QUESTIONS:

1.  Who am I?
2.  Am I really all I say I am?
3.  Am I all I ought to be?

..
ENDARKEN Moderator:
Prema Qadir

What's YOUR opinion?
..
Enter your viewpoint statement(s) regarding Kawaida, below, for posting to this web page [above].

Please my viewpoint statement on ENDARKEN.

Enter your first name and/or your last name.

Enter your e-mail address.

..

E-mail additional comment(s) to: VIEWPOINT@endarkenment.com
..
..

..
ENDARKEN
Connecting the Black World
Viewpoint: Kawaida

ENDARKEN VIEWPOINT is an online repository for summaries of views and opinions, expressed by ENDARKEN Discussion Group members.

|.ENDARKEN VIEWPOINT ARCHIVE.|
|.Interracial Adoption.|.Black Males/Black Females.|.Kawaida.|

| endarken | endarkenment.com | kwanzaa | sitemap
Copyright © 1999-2004 endarkenment.com - All Rights Reserved
Web Design by: Web Architects Hawaii - Last Update: 12/15/03 09:56 AM -0500

..