The Under-Appreciation of Kwanzaa

I have never had any problem being a basic white girl, but there is one time of year I wish I was African American (and no, I’m not using the term “African American” to be politically correct, I am using this term because that is the specific type of black I would want to be at this time. As a side note not all black people are african and american, so I try to stay away from this term, buuuttttt moving on now…). As the name of this article suggests, this time of year is Kwanzaa. Not all African Americans celebrate this holiday, but at least if you are African American at least you have a better excuse to celebrate it than I. Kwanzaa starts tomorrow and ends January first in case you were wondering. So, you are now thinking to yourself “what the fuck is that?” or “is that the one with the Mexicans?”. Of course I found out the answers to these questions about the holiday when I saw it on a calendar and googled it; this is a typical procedure one does when faced with a gap in knowledge such as the inevitable question all college kids seem to google during finals week, “how to get rich without college”, but that is a whole other thing. Because I know you are too lazy to open another tab and search yourself, I will give you a brief history lesson.

Back when slavery existed, you can only imagine how these poorly treated black people felt when all the white guys got presents and food and shit every year. It kinda sucks watching people have a fun time and exclude you. You want to know what they did? They created their own freaking holiday. Also, because one day is not enough, they made it last for seven days…thats a lot of turning up. It's no different from when you see pictures of a good themed party on Facebook and you say,“fuck it, I’m throwing a Gatsby party too”. The seven days are representative of seven virtues that basically have very little significance to anything other than the fact that they are nice buzzwords that make the holiday sound legitimate in some way. So props to the people who started this holiday, you're pretty cool.

Because of the petty nature in which the holiday was conceived, it makes sense that it was not a lasting trend. I mean, hell, I had to teach my black friend about the holiday beacuse he didnt know what it was. I think, we should make Kwanzaa not a testament to the separation between races, as it originally was, but it should be a reminder that no one can tell you can’t party. Lets be real the try triumph of the evolution of Kwanzaa is that someone said to these people that they weren't allowed to have a party, and they did. So, during this holiday season as Kwanzaa approaches, keep in mind the spirit of turning up and don’t wait to be invited to a party, throw your own. If you actually celebrate Kwanzaa (I have yet to meet a single person who does, but I would love to meet you), I’m sorry because this more than likely offended you. Happy Holidays!