Ujima (oo-GEE-mah)

Day 3- Instructions for Kwanzaa:  You should greet your friends and family by asking: Habari gani? (Translation: What’s the news?); and today, they can respond: Ujima! (Translation: Collective Work and Responsibility) Learn more about Kwanzaa here.

Tonight, let’s talk about the 3rd Principle of Kwanzaa: Ujima, which means Collective Work & Responsibility. 

I had to do it alone,
for a long time,
I had to be this way, but now,
I can call on my partner,
what about you?   -Shila

Collective work can look like this: Àṣẹ Dance Theatre Collective

In my travels and experiences, I have witnessed a lot of Us turning against one another, which causes us to break up group efforts. Personal feelings, incest, and dishonesty get in the way of many many good things. How can we begin to change this? I have some ideas, but what do you think?

• Unity is strength, division is weakness. ~ Swahili proverb
• Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable. ~ Bondei proverb
• It takes a village to raise a child. ~ African proverb
• Cross the river in a crowd and the crocodile won’t eat you. ~ African proverb
• Many hands make light work. ~ Haya (Tanzania) proverb
• Where there are many, nothing goes wrong. ~ Swahili proverb
• Two ants do not fail to pull one grasshopper. ~ Tanzanian proverb
• A single bracelet does not jingle. ~ Congolese proverb
• A single stick may smoke, but it will not burn. ~ African proverb
• If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. ~ African proverb

I am Shila. Thank you for visiting.