The White House remains mum on what the first family has planned this year for Kwanzaa, if anything.
Created in 1966 Dr. Maulana Karenga, founder of the United Slaves Organization (a more extreme black separatist rival of the Black Panthers) and convicted felon, the holiday is a week-long celebration of African American heritage, observed from December 26 – January 1.
Last year, the White House did not celebrate Kwanzaa, much to the chagrin of some who believed that the inauguration of the first black president would herald the first celebration of Kwanzaa at the White House.
Like Presidents Clinton and Bush before him, however, President and Mrs. Obama did send out “warm wishes to all those celebrating Kwanzaa this holiday season.”
Kwanzaa has received criticism for its exclusion of other races and the violent crimes committed by its founder. The Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson, president of the Brotherhood Organization of A New Destiny (BOND), has been an outspoken opponent of what he says is a celebration of racism.
“It is a racist holiday and something that we, as Americans, should not accept,” Peterson told The Daily Caller. “If a white person had created a so-called holiday for white people and black Americans or any other blacks were not allowed to celebrate it, this country would be up in arms about it. But because it was created by radical, godless, far-left liberal blacks, they’re allowed to get away with it.”
While there are detractors, Kwanzaa’s official website, operated by Karenga — now a director of black studies at California State University in Long Beach — celebrates it as a popular holiday for African Americans to rejoice in their heritage.
“The holiday, then will of necessity, be engaged as an ancient and living cultural tradition which reflects the best of African thought and practice in its reaffirmation of the dignity of the human person in community and culture, the well-being of family and community, the integrity of the environment and our kinship with it, and the rich resource and meaning of a people’s culture,” the website reads.
A 2004 study conducted by the National Retail Foundation revealed that only 13 percent of African Americans actually observe Kwanzaa. Though not an either/or, far more African Americans celebrate Christmas than Kwanzaa.
The Obamas might not be a part of the 13 percent observing the holiday, but his message last year payed homage to the celebration and the seven values observers recognize during the holiday — interestingly the principles are identical to the seven principles of the Symbionese Liberation Army (an American militant Marxist organization responsible for a number of bank robberies and murders. They are best known for their abduction and alleged brainwashing of Patty Hearst in the 1970s).
“The seven principles of Kwanzaa – Unity, Self Determination, Collective Work and Responsibility, Cooperative Economics, Purpose, Creativity, and Faith – express the values that have inspired us as individuals and families; communities and country,” Obama said in his statement last year. “These same principles have sustained us as a nation during our darkest hours and provided hope for better days to come. Michelle and I know the challenges facing many African American families and families in all communities at this time, but we also know the spirit of perseverance and hope that is ever present in the community.”
It remains to be seen whether this year there will be a Kwanzaa celebration at 1600 Pennsylvania.
Dr. Karenga did not respond to TheDC’s requests for comment.