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 remember it lol) That way we’ll be ready to celebrate it the way we should when Baby is bigger.
So, for 2023 I decided to celebrate Kwanzaa through literature again. 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 1 is Umoja. It means Unity. For this day you light the Black candle in the middle and the person who lights it makes a statement about Unity. My statement about Unity this year comes from the way we’ve (mostly) come together to help share information about what’s happening in Gaza and ways that we can come together and help get a permanent ceasefire. Especially after what they pulled on Christmas Day when they thought the world wasn’t looking. I hope we all continue to share about Gaza, Congo, Sudan, and all the other injustices across the world. None of us will be free until we all are.
The book I thought about first that reminded me of the unity we shared when coming together was:
I thought of this book because these were kids that came together to help stop the gentrification happening in her apartment building. All of that on top of dealing with basic teen life. It had to be exhausting. Plus there was a mystery that they solved on top of them creating one of their own. It was truly a spectacular book where unity is at the forefront.
What about you? What books do you think of when you think of Umoja or Unity? Do you think of this one as well? Let me know in the comments!