The Kwanzaa Effect (Umoja)

“And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do’” Genesis 11:6

Kwanzaa is a celebration of the Black experience rooted in 7 principles, these principles are designed to guide the African diaspora towards liberty and community. The first of these principles is Umoja. Umoja as a principle means unity. Unity is something that is the key to liberation. We must be united. There is no success without working together, being together, and striving together. Truthfully speaking this is why the Black community suffers to this day. Our enemies have been able to exploit our weaknesses to keep us fractured and separated. Man by nature is communal and to that extent very tribal. However, today there is a so-called gender war among people in the west. However, in the west, that war has devastated the Black community. People are walking away from marriage. People are walking away from relationships. The result of that has led to the disappearance of the nuclear family. Unity is the remedy. However, like any war, the first casualty is the truth. That is something that people are not ready for. Not sure why, but it clearly is the case because unity will solve many of our problems. Unfortunately, many people are not interested in such an antiquated concept. The people have traded unity for “peace” and why? Heaven knows. Words like “toxic masculinity” and “gynocracy” tend to reverberate in conversation. Regardless the reasoning, everyone suspects that something is not only off, but absolutely wrong. How long are we going to play the blame game? To what hope do we have in such confusion? Everyone is choosing themselves but in doing so, the future doesn’t bode well. So why such bleakness my G for a day designed by Dr. Maulana Karenga to promote unity? I heard the elder Steve Cokely say a few times that Black people are only unified in two instances, victory or defeat. The trouble is we don’t know which one we are closer to. Some people think things are cool. Some people think things are very terrible. The truth is not somewhere in the middle. It’s in the data. Trouble is people do not like data and they are terribly afraid of being a reduced to a statistic. I’m not here to discuss stats because that isn’t what I do here but suffice to say, the data dictates that we are in a world of hurt and there is no quick fix.

As far as comics goes. When I think of unity in a comic book. Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Intergalactic Republic of Wakanda run comes to mind. T’Challa gathers all of the roster of Black Superheroes from Marvel together to fight for Wakanda Prime. Coates takes a moment to do something that had never been done before on a massive scale. We have seen Marvel heroes fight together in big events like Secret Wars, but never on this level regarding Black Superheroes.

It almost beckons the question as to why this idea had never been approached on this scale before. Would Marvel allow anyone to tell a story like this? Who’s to say? What we all know is that it was beautiful to see. Issue 23 of the run gives a glimpse of what unity looks like, T’Challa uses the misfortune of a fallen warrior Nakia, to rally the diapora. T’Challa appeals to the “Wakanda” in all of them. He sought to link them together because the only way Wakanda Prime stood a chance was for the collective to see themselves as the same. In Black comic book conversations we often dream about an all Black Avengers team or all Black X-Men team. We get glimpses but rarely do we see Unity, Black Unity as a thing in comics. Sad to say, if we are awaiting Marvel or DC for that matter to consider and construct such a powerful thing. We will be waiting a long time. Yet, do not fear because tommorow’s principle is Kujichagulia or self determination. If they wont do, then we have to do it. Like unity, it’s on us. It never should be on them because the minute it is. Well, the feeling would be like Tupac said in his song Blasphemy “Should we cry, when the Pope die, my request We should cry if they cried when we buried Malcolm X” Unity is needed. Its not something we need to discuss with oppressors, its the cry and burden of the oppressed. We have to find away, like T’Challa did when life and death for Wakanda was in play. We need each other. I don’t want my family. I need my family. The sooner we come to that revelation, the better off we will be Happy Kwanzaa! -Richard J Wright