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 Pre-K Kid won’t remember it lol) That way we’ll be ready to celebrate it the way we should when the Pre-K Kid is bigger.
So, for 2025 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 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.
This year my statement on Cooperative Economics can also be about social justice and keeping it within the community. It’s no secret that social justice is one of my passions. And one thing I’ve found in my research is the principles of social justice, which are: equity, access, participation, and human rights. As someone who is also a librarian, one of the things that most stands out to me is access. So as y’all know Itry to use Black and Brown brands, but this year I want to do a better job of telling y’all what they are. I also want to speak up louder when I see some type of injustice as well. My platform isn’t huge, but I can speak up like it is.
The book I thought about first when thinking of keeping
the Black Dollar in Black Businesses or just being
smart about economics in general:
I chose this one because of the way she was saving money for her restaurant. I hated that she had to take the job that she didn’t love to make it work, but she did what she had to do. And it all worked out. She got her restaurant and I know it would do well if the beginning of the book was anything to go off of. Y’all read this and let me know if you agree!
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!