Kwanzaa Candles
In these few days left of the old year, the trash is swept to the curb, the bargain-hunting, returns and gift cards fly around the mall, the ski weekends/holidays are packed for, family is taken to the airport or waved goodbye to on the driveway, and household projects are inspired by a few days off.
Traditionally, I spend this week either travelling and puttering around Austin or in someone else’s kitchen. But that isn’t a significant act for me, more a habitual one. This year, we elected to stay home and inhabit our space. Just live in it. Not grieve, not defer, not avoid. Just LIVE in it and in our skins in the family we have created. I’m content after a fashion, but not ready to get on with the hustle and bustle. I want more quietude and reflection. More candles.
Since I am drawn to anything involving candles, I am thinking about Kwanzaa. I am also mindful of cultural misappropriation, so I don’t make a big deal out of this (besides posting a blog entry about it!). But I find a lot of joy in this celebration of African-American virtue and ritual, which are of course human virtues. I believe this celebration and meditation strengthens all of the U.S. Anything that makes stronger families for everyone, anything that encourages justice and peace - any of this makes us a healthier and wiser and more unified people.
Yesterday, Unity, or Umoja, is the meditation, and today it is Kugichagulia or self-determination. Simply, these two together mean we are an interconnected web of people, and if we make ourselves the best we can be, that strengthens and enriches everyone around us. Making ourselves better helps others. We too must help others but no one is served by long-suffering martyrdom, or whining willful ignorance.
Even as the news from Pakistan comes to us with dread and sorrow, light a candle or three or seven this week, ponder these virtues and be proud of our progress as a nation, as a planet, to bring racial issues into the light where we can resolve them. One friend of mine said, fretting over yet another hate crime, “I can’t believe we’re still dealing with this!” and then in a quick realization, she brightened and said, “I’m so glad we’re still dealing with this!”
As long as we keep dealing with it, as long as we approach our differences and troubles with love and justice in mind, we can in fact fulfill the prophecy of the wise one who hoped that we will soon live in a nation where people “will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
We are so close to that dream. So very close. Light a candle this week, and let’s get closer.