Kuumba, the sixth principle of Kwanzaa, honors creativity. Yet, for many of us, the call to create evokes anxiety rather than celebration. “Doubt is one of the many thieves of joy,” Dionne [...]
The first time I celebrated Kwanzaa I was in college and, as the freshman representative for the Black Student Union, I was responsible for organizing a campus-wide event. This first celebration [...]
How emotional emancipation helped me to sustain Kwanzaa’s principles throughout 2020 2020 has been a difficult year for most. January of last year was full of promise – all which began to unravel [...]
This year, I will celebrate Kwanzaa for the first time since I was a teen. This decision falls during one of the most tumultuous years in my life, and in world history, and feels like a natural [...]
“Mama! Mama? Have you seen our Mama?” It’s been several days since I’ve been back from Montgomery, Alabama, where I spent some time at the Legacy Museum, but those words are still haunting [...]
Black men are crying uncontrollably in public. Clips of Black men hugging are going viral. Black mothers and fathers are unabashedly showing unconditional love for their children. Something [...]
We are escaping. Come with us. We are escaping from the 600-year-old narrative of White superiority and Black inferiority. We are on the road to emotional emancipation, healing, wellness, [...]
I try to live in a state of constant gratitude, and so I want to take a few moments to celebrate the promise of Emotional Emancipation (EE) Circles, the self-help support group process that is [...]
It was about clearing the way, in the most profound sense, for a renaissance for people of African ancestry around the world. It was about being in a place intimately associated with the [...]
As a man of Yoruba lineage, dedicating myself to the emotional emancipation of African people, cultures, and communities is my mission and mandate. It’s what must be done, here and now, to heal [...]