Happy Kwanzaa
from The Blackyard CollectiveUMOJA (unity) KUJICHAGULIA (self-determination) UJIMA (collective work and responsibility) UJAMAA (cooperative economics) NIA (purpose) KUUMBA (creativity) IMANI (faith)
Hello Michael! Today is the fourth day of Kwanzaa, dedicated to the principle of UJAMAA, or cooperative economics. Simply put, Ujamaa is "local people cooperating with each other to provide for the essentials of living." In a culture that prides itself on individuality, independence, and self-reliance, Ujamaa is a challenging concept. It’s even more complicated when we consider the legacy and history of race, class, and gender in Western culture. Unfortunately, the ability to provide for the basic essentials of living is very much tied to being Black and queer. Most of us are just one generation away from a system that segregated people by color and threatened our employment because of our sexuality and gender. The aftereffects of the Jim Crow South and the Lavender Scare of McCarthyism are very much alive today as we consider that Black people earn 76 cents for every dollar a white person makes and that trans women earn about 60 cents for every dollar earned by the typical worker. Coming of age in the 80s and 90s as Black and queer was horrifying. The scare of AIDS, the crack cocaine epidemic, and being arrested for being Black were ever-present realities. Becoming HIV-positive and succumbing to addiction in my thirties felt like a death sentence. My years of striving daily to resist becoming a statistic had failed, having become the very things I had feared most. Now in my fifties, healthy and sober, I credit Ujamaa for empowering me to survive and thrive. The deep abiding love of my Black southern family strengthened by the infinite resilience of my queer recovery community are the epitome of an economy of people cooperating to provide for the essentials of living. Being with my Black family and building a Black queer community has sustained me in times of joy and grief. Ujamaa is about more than money. It’s about shared resources and shared responsibilities. The mission of The Blackyard Collective is to build and sustain a community of care grounded in self-love and mutual respect. When we invest our time and resources toward shared meals, social gatherings, and spiritual retreats that center queerness, Blackness, and wellness, we are cooperating with each other in order to provide for the essentials of living for Black queer and trans people. As we light the candle for Ujamaa on this fourth day of Kwanzaa, let us move away from the fragility of individuality, independence, and self-reliance and toward an economy of accountability, responsibility, and care. “Call it democracy or call it democratic socialism, but there must be a better distribution of wealth within this country for all God’s children.” — Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Happy Kwanzaa! Love,
Michael
|
