Tag Archives: kwanzaa day 3

KWANZAA AFTER DARK: DAY 4

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Reflecting on the days of Kwanzaa…

Kwanzaa After Dark is about reflection.  After you’ve spent the day doing the Afrikan rituals within your community, go home and think about how you, as an individual can change.

We all come from the cradle of civilization.  We all can support Kwanzaa.  Why don’t we?  Think about that.

Thank you for visiting.

Shila Iris,

KWANZAA AFTER DARK: DAY 3

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Habari gani?  This is the question you ask your family, friends, and community at the beginning of each day of Kwanzaa.  In the language kiswahili, it translates to “What’s the news?” 

Your response is simply whatever day of Kwanzaa it is.  So this morning, you responded: “Ujima!”  Tomorrow you respond “Ujamaa!”

DAY 3 – UJIMA:  COLLECTIVE WORK AND RESPONSIBILITY

*Note:  If the images above appear blurry, please visit my previous post for a clearer view.

Peace and blessings manifest with every lesson learned,

Shila Iris ♥

P.S. Divide and conquer has been a very useful tactic in taking from people of Afrikan descent.  We can fight this!  Let the circle be unbroken.  Fix yourself, so that we can all be together.  I’m in my healing flow, you know?

KWANZAA AFTER DARK: DAYS 1 & 2

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I love to say kujichagulia (koo-jee-chah-goo-lee-yuh). ♥ ♥  It rolls off my tongue very nicely.  So, here I am, Shila Iris, hey ya’ll!!!!  You know I rocks with Kwanzaa on this blog.  Check it out.

DAY 1 – UMOJA: UNITY

DAY 2 – KUJICHAGULIA:  SELF-DETERMINATION

I am Shila Iris.  I should name myself! 🙂

 

Day 3 – KWANZAA AFTER DARK: We Can Get a Lot More Done Together

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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.

Ujima 4Tonight, 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 CollectiveUjima

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.

Ujima 3