Nappy Headed Black Child

Habari Gani...Today is the last day of Kwanzaa and today's principle is FAITH.

originally i intended to talk about each principle every day however this is my first Kwanzaa that i have actually observed so i decided to sit back and take it in. Let it wash over me so to speak...

And today i write because of today's Principle...Faith. That has been a major struggle for me this past year. In terms of religion, theology and ideology. and at least in the way i feel about it the other principles of Kwanzaa are nothing with out Faith. Without Faith none of the other principles are even remotely possible. Today (according to the western calendar) is also the first day of the new year. Thus to begin the new year with faith really just makes a whole lot of sense. In essence Kwanzaa is a reconnection to traditional African principles of living. The Nguzo Saba principles are every day life stuff. But often times when looking at things like collective work and responsibility, Unity, utilizing our gifts and talents for the benefit of the community our people sometimes scoff at the idea.

Be it selfishness or distrust or just ambivalence. Its a lack of faith. If we dont believe in each other we're sunk. Believing in self is paramount but in the end that only serves self. If this about the community (and it is) we gotta have faith in all of us. We gotta have faith in those we trying to help and they have to be able to have faith in us. Faith to me is unshakable trust + Love. Both take time to build...

So even though faith is the last principle celebrated it is not the least by any means. I would even venture say it is the prerequisite principle.

Hope u enjoyed your Kwanzaa