One holiday tradition my mom always wanted to do with us but never did is celebrate Kwanzaa. She did educate me on what it is and what everything means, but we never got around to ever doing it. But now that I’m starting my own family, I wanted to do celebrate this year (even if Baby won’t be around to see it.) That way we’ll be ready to celebrate it the way we should when Baby is bigger.
So, for 2020 I decided to celebrate Kwanzaa through literature. I’ll be listing the principles for each day along with a book that matches the principles. If you can think of other titles that match the principles, tell me, I’d love to discuss.
Day 4 is Ujamaa. It means Cooperative Economics. The process is much of the same, light the previous candles, and then light the last red one and they should all be lit. The person who lights it then makes a statement about Cooperative Economics. For me, this means using Black Businesses! During this pandemic I bought a plethora of book shirts and bookish merch, All from Black Owned businesses. I was also happy to use Black Owned Bookstores like Mahogany Books. This principle is all about keeping the Black Dollar in Black Stores.
The book I thought about first when thinking of keeping the Black Dollar in Black Businesses or just being smart about economics in general:
This book tackles class issues in such a great way. She doesn’t have the money to keep the Black dollar in Black Businesses, but this book can and will teach you a lot about money. And whoever reads it will be forced to think about the same things that Rico had to while she was trying to decide what to do about the ticket.
What about you? What books do you think of when you think of Ujamaa or Cooperative Economics? Do you think of this one as well? Let me know in the comments!