xD what a positive man.

Kwanzaa is coming! What is the virtue of the first day?

Heri za kwanzaa everyone!

Today is

Umoja (Unity)
-maintaining unity as a family, community and race of people.

Lets all do what we can for the rest of the day to embrace all of those from different cultures, backgrounds and walks of life!

We are ALL ONE!

:)

I do that every day in my circle of friends, we're very intersectionality oriented.

nice, the world is needing unity right now

I feel very united with my cactus clan.

i dunno, you look like you are struggling there XD

CCC : Cute Cactus Clan!

Today is my favorite principle day!

Kujichagulia (Self-Determination)
: defining, naming and creating and speaking for ourselves.

Learn to speak for yourselves! We don't need a mouthpiece to say what we think or feel. It's hard, but being brave and setting your OWN goals is healthier than staying in the path chosen for you by society.
We all have goals and hopes for the future, no matter where you come from, you can still choose your own destiny !

Okay, this one, I confess, will be more of a challenge. Speaking up for myself is rather frowned upon in this family. But the fact remains, I am the only one who can make such a determination, it's right there in the front = Self.

You can do it Witchchylde!!!

Oops! I nearly forgot to post today's principle!!!

Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility)
: building and maintaining our community--solving problems together.

In other words, support black businesses... Support community businesses...
I buy your goods, you buy mine. We should strive to support our community together. :)

Supporting your community is important!

I agree! :D
This is the first time I've been a part of a real community!

My community now has these little "festivals" where they give members of the community free treats and offer different things from different local shops !

I always enjoy buying goods from my local shops!
There's several that are really nice and it feels good to be a part of a community!

SUPPORT. BLACK. ARTISTS.

I admit I usually have no clue about the ethnicity of artists I admire. Like, I'm more interested in the actual work of art than the person behind it. Be it pictures, music, crafts...

stan Lizzo!!
anyway what was today's virtue?

*crosses fingers* let it be "eat a lot of ice cream"

Hey hey, friends!

Sorry I disappeared for a while.
My period started and I was having some... not-so-fun stuff going on.
I'm alright now, hopefully I can finish the holiday alright!

The day I missed was;

Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics)
: building and maintaining retail stores and other businesses and to profit from these ventures.

I think I got Ujima, and Ujamaa mixed up!
They're both extremely similar, though. But I think Ujima is more of like... solving problems together as a community. In other words, *talking* to each other, *communicating* to each other to solve problems in the community.

Today is;
Nia (Purpose)
: work collectively to build communities that will restore the greatness of African people.

I feel like this is pretty much self-explanatory. But I don't think we need to "restore" greatness. We're already great as we are! BUT, I do feel that maybe we could continue to show the *great* things people of African descent have done. :)
We can continue to be great from here on out too!

I really like Nia the way you describe it. Greatness has always been there, just not so visible and/or overshadowed by other events. For example in our History class we used to learn exactly two things about people of African descent: they were shipped as slaves, and some guy named Martin Luther King gave a famous speech. No word about activists like Harriet Tubman or Sojourner Truth, neither any mention of scientists like Katherine Johnson or Dorothy Vaughan.

Of course every country will focus on its own history and only briefly touch others, so I imagine US history might mention more (or simply different) people. Nevertheless if you look closely there has always been more to say than just "uh, they're a bunch of former slaves who were treated as second grade citizens back in the fifties".

I think it's worthwile to remember what great deeds your ancestors have done (and what "small" deeds that won't make it into the history books but still can be a great source of pride) and think about how you want to achieve greatness in your own life.

Also all the great writers and artists!

*nods* Yep, those too.

Point is, if we don't learn this stuff in school, let's not forget the average curriculum is far off from what we need in life anyway. We have a secret power former generations did not have: internet! So we can find our own role models easier than anyone before us.

We can also educate ourselves better than what the school systems are willing to do.

There. Fixed it for you.