|
Sermon Art Lavoie OPENING WORDS, by Dorothy Winbush Riley READING, from: The
Complete Kwanzaa: Celebrating our Cultural Harvest, The calendars of African countries were filled with festivals that celebrated all important events. Harvest festivals usually began in late December and continued for seven or eight days until the first day of the new year, with each day having a special meaning attached to it. The villagers glorified the first fruits of the harvest with dancing and feasting. All were rewarded for their Umoja (unity) in planting the seeds, Kujichagulia (self-determination) for tending the fields, and Ujima (collective work and responsibility) for survival. Welcoming the harvest was a common practice, but each society celebrated its own. The Egyptians' festival was Pert-In-Min (the coming forth of Min); the Zulu celebrated Umkhosi; the Sudanese observed the millet festival; the Swazi feted Incwala; the Ashanti, Ibo, and Yoruba commemorated the New Yam Festival, offering the ancestor a fine piece of yam with other gifts of oil or meat; and the Hausas celebrated the "feast of the full stomach," when guests ate all the chicken or meat they could hold. Regardless of the location, all first-fruits festivities had five things in common: gathering, reverence, commemoration, recommitment, and celebration. To open the festival, the ruler or chief said a prayer of gratitude for the richness of the year, good health, strength, and families. The chief poured a portion of the libation, from a special cup, onto the ground for any ancestors who might be present and passed the cup around for all to share. Then feasting with music, dancing, and storytelling began. The modern celebration of Kwanzaa, like the ancient rituals, maintains our part in the cosmic rhythm of the universe.*(pg. 1-2) SERMON What is in a name. We all have them. Most of the time we don't think too much about our names, until, perhaps, we are going to get married or have children. Then naming becomes important and special, and we have to make choices about how we are going to present ourselves or our children to the world. What do our names tell us about ourselves and our history? Do we know how our name was chosen? Many of us carry a family name that says something about where our ancestors came from. What is our connection to that heritage? Have we had relatives tell us that we look like so and so, or that we have a family member's eyes, or hair, or body structure? How do our names, and our appearance reflect our family backgrounds? Alice Walker identified the significance of her name when
she wrote: The book, The Complete Kwanzaa: Celebrating Our Cultural Harvest, by Dorothy Winbush Riley has been an invaluable help in preparing this sermon and I quote her book often. She writes: "Names are not mere words; they are a link to all the ancestors who came before and all the descendants who will follow." "The ancestors believed that the name contained secrets of the child's existence and defined the challenges to be overcome in the future. In ancient African societies, parents gave names to their newborns that honored the ancestors, appealed to the spirits, evoked the status of the family, or told of the circumstances of the birth." *(pg. 70) If you happen to be African-American it is most likely that you will have a Euro-American name and that it will be very difficulty, if not impossible to re-construct your family tree. The system of slavery was purposeful about destroying families and identities. Slaves were given new names by those that enslaved them. Husbands, wives, parents, and children were bought and sold with no regard for established family ties. Think of how important alone is the process of naming. Those of you who have children, remember what it was like for you to pick out the perfect name that your child would carry for the rest of her or his life. Think what it would have been like for you, and for your children, if some arm of the state had come along and chosen your children's names. Think what it would be like if your name were changed every time you moved to a new place, or, perhaps, got a new job. Many of us can remember how people were glued to their T.V. sets when Alex Haley's Roots was first televised. People, especially African-Americans could talk about little else. Here was a connection, a bridge that one man had built to his past that few others could claim. It was also fascinating for those of us who are not African-American and I remember some discussion, not only about the horrors of slavery, but also about how the experience of the American cultural "melting pot" has had some of the same effect of robbing us of knowledge of and connection to our own heritage. I don't want, in any way, to compare the experience of African-Americans
to those of us who were raised with so much more privilege. But
I think it is important to make note of the lack of knowledge
we Euro-Americans have about our ancestors and the practices
inherent in our cultural background. It is incumbent upon us Euro-Americans to be very careful and respectful whenever we use or talk about the culture of another group. It has too often been the case that we have taken from others more than we ever give. Kwanzaa, the holiday celebrated from December 26th through January 1st, is the product of African-American people's attempt to reclaim some of their identity, heritage and communities. It arises from the need for a deeper connection with an ancestral African past, the desire to define what is important in the present, and the will to build a future. Again from, The Complete Kwanzaa: Celebrating Our Cultural Harvest: "Kwanzaa is and African American holiday, which intertwines African traditions with American customs . . .It was first celebrated (in 1966), in Los Angeles, by Dr. Maulena Karenga, his family and friends. Karenga had organized ancient wisdom based on six criteria of a people - history, mythology, creativity, social structure, political organization, and economics." *(pg.3) Kwanzaa is structured around seven principles, one for every day, and there are also seven symbols, which I talked about earlier with the children. The issue of naming is part of the second principle, known as Kujichagulia, or Self-Determination. It "means knowing who we are and our role in our community as we journey through life." It honors the ways in which we "define our interest, name ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves, making decisions that benefit the family and the community."*(pg. 18) When we can name ourselves and our experience we have a measure of control over our lives, ownership of our bodies, and the ability to influence and direct our future. Self-Determination honors the traditions we create for ourselves as we strive to build our communities. The first and foundational principle of Kwanzaa is called Umoja or Unity. Riley defines Umoja as "the importance of striving for and maintaining unity in the family, community, nation, and race." *(pg. 17) The word Umoja comes from the Swahili and means "oneness." Umoja speaks of the unity of all life and all consciousness, a oneness with the sacred source of life. It is a sense of solidarity, a deep knowledge and appreciation of others regardless of individual difference. The African-American experience, as I mentioned earlier has been one tearing apart the family and social fabric. The unity that is symbolized by the healing of that rift becomes the basic principle on which all the others stand and have meaning. This and other principles are then seen in light of family, community, and a deep connection to heritage. This principle iterates that responsibility accompanies freedom, that no-one walks alone on this earth. Frederick Douglass wrote: "We are one, our cause is one and we must help each other if we are to succeed." *(pg. 18) Ujima, the third principle is defined as Collective Work and Responsibility and it identifies the importance of working together to solve problems and build and maintain a healthy community. Dorothy Riley tells us that "Ujima is a return to traditional values of kindness, generosity, patience, tolerance, cooperation, and compassion. It is a sense of truth and justice, right and wrong, and doing things for and taking care of others through services that build and maintain a community." *(pg. 118) Through collective work the shattered family and community can be rebuilt and people can learn to solve problems collectively. Cooperative Economics, or Ujamaa is the fourth principle of Kwanzaa. Paul Robeson has said that to work "is to be free-to walk the good American earth as equal citizens, to live without fear, to enjoy the fruits of our toil, to give our children every opportunity in life-that dream which we have held so long in our hearts is today the destiny that we hold in our hands." *(pg. 151) Ujamaa highlights what can be accomplished when the collective economic strength of a community is harnessed to build and care for that community. Through the practice of Cooperative Economics opportunities are created and people can take responsibility for their own future. Kwnazaa's fifth principle is called Nia or Purpose. Nia is about knowing who we are and where we are going. It is an anchor and a conviction that makes it much easier to withstand the struggles of life. When you or I have purpose, our lives are directed by our own values and we live in harmony with the universe. Nia or purpose, is also related to service and to a deepening connection with one's community and heritage. Marion Wright Edelman writes that "service is the rent we pay for living. It is the very purpose of life and not something you do in your spare time." *(pg. 212) Creativity or Kuumba is the sixth principle and "focuses on how we can use our talents, imagination, and creative skills to bring harmony and beauty to our communities." (pg. 228) Creativity involves imagination and honors the process of
our work and not only the results. It is the link between the
past and the future, honoring the best of our traditional heritage
while reminding us that the lives of our families and communities
will always grow and evolve, never remaining static and unbending.
This principle is celebrated on New Year's Eve and is the one
principle that includes a feast Dorothy Winbush Riley tells us that "Imani is eternal hope, assuring us that no matter where we travel on our road to success, we are never alone. It is believing that we are always in the process of becoming and that the job is as eternal as we are." *(pg. 263) Kwanzaa is known as the "harvest of first fruits," synthesizing the best of what the earth can give and the best of who we can be. As we harvest the bounty of the earth, we also harvest from within, bringing to life our own dreams and talents. When I first set out to do a service for Kwanzaa I was struck by the idea that Kwanzaa, like Unitarian Universalism, is built on seven principles. What I have learned is that each of those sets of principles is built on the particular culture of the groups who constructed them. Our Unitarian Universalist Principles reflect a predominantly Euro-American religious organization poised to meet the chal-lenges of an increasingly complex world by reminding us of basic human values. The Principles of Kwanzaa, on the other hand, reflect community torn by deep wounds and struggles, looking inward, reclaiming its history and heritage, building its culture, strengthening its family and community structure. This is a powerful holiday of claiming, of naming identity.
As we move through the season of Kwanzaa and into a new year
we do well to stand in solidarity with our African-American sisters
and brothers in this feast of their heritage and culture.
Ashe Blessed Be *all quotes from, The
Complete Kwanzaa: Celebrating Our Cultural Harvest, by
Dorothy Winbush Riley, Harper Collins, 1995  |