Ah Martin--

Your own patented tact, tolerance, and wide-eyed childlike curiosity about the world around you. It's heartwarming.

Just who is holding a gun to your head and forcing you to buy Kwanzaa cards? Tell them I said you didn't need to.

So the idea of the holiday was invented in California in 1966?   Your point?

Which of the principles do you have a problem with? Self-reliance? Community?

I would think you might be in favor of an idea that encourages black kids to stay in school, not to join gangs, to try to help their community, to have a consciousness about humans' place in the web of life, etc.

It is true that in the services I particiated in, they lit candles, in something like a menorah, for each of the principles. But if you were in a charitable mood----which you always are, of course----you could consider that imitation is the sincerest expression of flattery.


I have sung in several Kwanzaa services in a Unitarian church where one of my groups was singing. We did a mix of stuff, including some madrigals--- and Siyahamba, a great, hypnotic song.

Looking forward to more of your delightful comments.