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Monday, December 27
Call to Action: U.S. Cutting Food Aid Aimed at Self-Sufficiency
by
Linda Thieman
on Mon 27 Dec 2004 12:59 PM CST
 Call to Action: U.S. Cutting Food Aid Aimed at Self-Sufficiency
True Majority
It is disheartening at this time when the spirit of the holiday season is in the air that we open the newspaper to find: "U.S. Cutting Food Aid Aimed at Self-Sufficiency."
While the number of the world's people who go hungry is rising
for the first time in years, the Bush administration can find no better
way to reduce spending than to cut $600 million from global food aid
programs aimed at helping millions of people climb out of poverty.
That
belt-tightening of $600 million doesn't make much of a dent in a
federal discretionary budget of $965 BILLION (it's 0.0001 percent), but
in the developing world, it's emergency food to prevent the starvation
of millions, and long-term agricultural development to help people feed
even more people themselves.
Or put
another way, it's 1/60th of the $35 BILLION that remains in the budget
to maintain America's Cold War nuclear weapons equivalent to 150,000 of
the bombs that destroyed Hiroshima.
This is
so outrageous that there's now a BIPARTISAN effort in Congress led by
Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-Missouri) to convince the administration that
global food aid should not be cut.
Let's
make our voices really count this holiday season and give the most important
gift we can, the gift of life for millions of our hungry brothers and
sisters around the world.
And we
can make it happen. Flood
your members of Congress with faxes. Click here to send a message.
Be sure to select the "fax" button, as sending a fax always gets
through to members of Congress. Emails are too often
deleted. This is a free service. No fax machine required.
Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community, and Culture
by
Linda Thieman
on Mon 27 Dec 2004 05:39 AM CST
 Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community, and Culture
by Dr. Maulana Karenga, The Official Kwanzaa Website
Why was Kwanzaa created?
Kwanzaa was created:
--To
reaffirm the communitarian vision and values of African culture and to
contribute to its restoration among African peoples in the Diaspora,
beginning with Africans in America and expanding to include the world
African community.
--To introduce and reinforce the Nguzo Saba,
the Seven Principles and through this, introduce and reaffirm
communitarian values and practices which strengthen and celebrate
family, community and culture. These seven communitarian African values
are: Umoja (Unity), Kuji-chagulia (Self-determination), Ujima
(Collective Work and Responsibility), Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics),
Nia (Purpose), Kuumba (Creativity), and Imani (Faith).
--To
serve as a regular communal celebration which reaffirmed and reinforced
the bonds between us as a people in the U.S., in the Diaspora and on
the African continent, in a word, as a world African community. It was
designed to unite and to strengthen African communities.
--As an
act of cultural self-determination, as a self-conscious statement of
our own unique cultural truth as an African people. That is to say, it
is an important way and expression of being African in a multicultural
context.
Where does the word "Kwanzaa" come from?
 The word
"Kwanzaa" comes from the phrase, "matunda ya kwanza" which means
"first-fruits." Kwanzaa's extra "a" evolved as a result of a particular
history of the Organization Us. It was done as an expression of African
values in order to inspire the creativity of our children. In the early
days of Us, there were seven children who each wanted to represent a
letter of Kwanzaa. Since kwanza (first) has only six letters, we added
an extra "a" to make it seven, thus creating "Kwanzaa."
Why is Kwanzaa a seven-day holiday?
Kwanzaa is a seven-day holiday for two reasons:
--In
terms of authenticity, Kwanzaa is modeled on first-fruits celebrations
in ancient Africa, especially on Southern African first-fruits
celebrations like Umkhost of Zululand which has seven days.
--The
central reason for Kwanzaa's being seven days is to stress the Nguzo
Saba and through this introduce and reaffirm communitarian values and
practices which strengthen and celebrate family, community, and
culture.
Why has Kwanzaa grown among African people?
Kwanzaa grows among African people because:
--It
speaks to our need and appreciation for its cultural vision and life-
affirming values, values which celebrate and reinforce family,
community, and culture.
--It represents an important way Africans speak our own special cultural truth in a multicultural world.
--It
reaffirms the most ancient tradition in the world, the African
tradition, which lays claim to the first religious, ethical and
scientific texts, and the introduction of the basic disciplines of
human knowledge in the Nile Valley.
--It reinforces our rootedness in our own culture in a rich and meaningful way.
--It
brings us together from all countries, all religious traditions, all
classes, all ages and generations, and all political persuasions on the
common ground of our Africanness in all its historical and current
diversity and unity.
Dr. Maulana Karenga
The Creator of Kwanzaa
Chair, The Organization Us
Chair, The National Association of Kawaida Organizations (NAKO)
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