*Heri Za Kwanzaa*
 

Hello, hello fellow friends..

inb4: Yes, I know Kwanzaa doesn't start until Dec. 26th.

Kwanzaa tends to be forgotten by most people during the holidays.
I usually post a Kwanzaa thread every year in various parts of the internet because I think Kwanzaa is a pretty nice little holiday and a nice way to celebrate African American heritage. :)

For those who are not familiar with Kwanzaa, Kwanzaa is a seven day celebration where each day is focused on a specific African principle in which the family discusses and tries to do what they can to include said principle in their lives for that day.

Candles are lit, gifts such as veggies and such are given and placed in front of the candles and it's a really nice little holiday for us black and brown people. :)

While I've never properly celebrated Kwanzaa myself, I like posting a little Kwanzaa thread every year to raise awareness and also to share with those who do properly celebrate Kwanzaa.

In general, I find Kwanzaa to be a unifying celebration where people of all colors can come together and celebrate the principles that make us all equal and make us ALL ONE.

So celebrate with me if you want :)
Let's end this year with a BANG!!!

I....I won't get yelled at for "appropriating culture" if I, a white American, learn about Kwanzaa and attempt to maybe celebrate it with you here, will I? (Maybe I'll just stick to only learning about it so I don't get in trouble.)

Because I would love to join you, but I don't wanna offend anyone...
>.>

I certainly would like to know the daily goals part of this tradition.

IMHO, you can celebrate if you want to :)
I'm from a mixed family, so my parents were always like, "hm, we don't count, so we can't celebrate", but that's not at all true!

I think adapting and learning about other cultures and celebrating them with loved ones is what the holiday season is all about :D

Ooo, they're really cool ones. Nguzo Saba.
Each daily principle has a cool African name. (I say African because the names of each principle is taken from different African languages such as Swahili, Zulu, etc.)

It's actually pretty interesting that Kwanzaa comes in the days after Christmas. I'm excited to learn about it!

I feel like there's a lot of myths surrounding Kwanzaa.
Like, some people felt it was a "replacement for Christmas" or that it somehow promoted Black Panther/Black supremacy stuff...

But actually, I think it's mostly just a way to strengthen familial bonds and connect with the community.

My black family celebrates it, but since I grew up separated from them, and also, since I grew up in an almost entirely white neighborhood, I never learned about Kwanzaa much.

And also, since I've never "officially" celebrated it myself, I'm learning about it too right alongside you :D

oh! habari gani?

Wow, nice to know ^^
In my country, we call Christmas Bon Noel.

This sort of behavior is usually done by white people to other white people. Though sometimes, POC can be the assholes yelling about appropriation. That sorta bullshit is what drove me away from a fan server for a show I love, as well as despotism.

den is right. it tends to be outsiders to a thing that are the most aggressive about disincluding people from getting into a thing. i do not get it -shrug-

making a sincere attempt to understand and respect someone when they invite you to do so is 100% ok

Greetings c:


And yeah... I find that it's usually white people telling me that if I let a white person (usually white men) do something within my own culture, that they are "appropriating the culture".

I feel there's a HUGE difference between learning and celebrating a different culture and disgracing it and using it out of ignorance and "appropriation".
I think we should strive to learn about other cultures and we should try to understand each other through being involved with other cultures and experiencing being around others who are different from us.

My parents are both of different cultures. I wouldn't call either of them "appropriating" each other's cultures.

-flumps down in the middle of the thread and pretends to nap-

Hey hey hey!

I'll serve you some jollof rice if you wake up!
;u;



/has never had jollof rice herself

What is jollof rice?

It's a really delicious looking Nigerian rice dish!

:D

I've never had an opportunity to try it,
But it looks so tasty! :d

Derpy waddles in. "Can I cewebwate Kwanzaa too?"

too spicy. something milder

Of course, Derpy !
:D Everyone is free to celebrate

<3
Welcome!

"Yay!" Derpy waddles over and offers you a hug.

So is Jollof rice part of a traditional Kwanzaa menu, or simply a delicious thing you enjoy to offer? And do you have a recipe maybe? I'm always interested in learning new dishes.

Also curious about the principles.

Did a quick google search, but didn't save an actual recipe, but was pleasantly surprised to see that jollof rice could be made with meat or vegetarian.

ah, i probably should make a hanukkah thread. the holiday started a day ago.

happy kwanzaa.

I like the fact that the candles are colorful |D (no shade to hanukkah)

When I was invited to sing at a Kwanzaa event back in winter 2010, the food that they served there was really, really basic and not at all "traditional" African cuisine. If I remember correctly, there was fried chicken, homemade spaghetti and meat sauce, maybe some sort of potato salad, and then regular salad and then some other stuff that I can't remember. I didn't eat anything during that event.

Since it's an African American holiday, I would assume "traditional" soul food would probably be served.

@chocobo
My mom hates spicy stuff too!
She doesn't even use black pepper in her food.

And everything she cooks is bland and icky.
She's easily the worst cook in the family.

...-screaming-

(I can't cope with spiciness either, but...)

...I'm assuming she at least uses salt?

'cause mine doesn't.

i think i might die if i couldn't season my food x______x no spice doesn't mean no spices, herbs are your friends(though i've been told i am too friendly with garlic and rosemary)

the purpose of the principals is to encourage proactive introspection and enrich the community by enriching the individual

My mom barely uses salt..

Her food was always so bland.
She used to make "mashed potatoes" and basically heated them up in the microwave, then would smoosh them with a fork and add WATER .... Not milk, not even cream or butter.... WATER.

And they were dry AF and I would have to cover them in ketchup to make them edible...
x.x

;_____; that makes my tummy sad

;_____; life is too short for bad meals

whoa, i can't swallow something without seasoning. indian food is rarely bland, anyway, so my tastes evolved accordingly.

How's everyone doing today?

burned myself so i took a half day off of work and now i feel like i just want to slack XD

When my daughter was little and we wee dependent on WIC and commodities, they would provide s with potato flakes and powdered milk. I would only use the powdered milk with the potato flakes, since it was undrinkable just as reconstituted milk.

I have since learned that dried potato was a staple of Native American food storage, so we were incidentally using the traditions of our ancestors -- my family is Choctaw.

oh, god, mashed potatoes in primary. those were not good.

you either use butter with mashed potatoes or milk.

"Or bof" Derpy chimes in.

That's very interesting!
My mom also grew up using powdered milk!
She and her family were poor, so I guess it was a staple for her back then?
That definitely makes sense to use powdered milk in potato flakes!

My mom is a really, really bad cook. :(
I don't know why. My grandfather remarried like three times, and each wife was a really good cook.

And I tell my mom all the time, "Mom, I'm not a master chef or anything... I just follow the damn recipe! It's not that hard!!"

I don't know why my mom sucks so bad at cooking?!
Like, just follow the recipe! You can't mess up if you follow the recipe!

ALSO!

Tomorrow is the first day of Kwanzaa!
I hope to celebrate with all of you!

sounds like he followed his stomach not his heart XD

Yeah haha.

My grandfather was a tall, thin man, but it seemed like every woman he ever married was a good cook... Like, it was a requirement for marriage for him; she has to be a good cook.

My mom's mother passed away when she was seven, so my grandfather would tell her, "You had a good life. You had 4 mothers!"