Today is January 15, a glorious day in American history. It is the birthday of one of the most outstanding civil rights leaders of our time, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the anniversary of the founding of the first Greek-lettered sorority for college-educated African American women, Alpha Kappa Alpha.  

 

Since 1986, Dr. King’s birthday has been recognized as a federal holiday. Because of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1968, it is observed on the third Monday of January. This year, the King holiday is celebrated on January 18. Due to the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, communities around the country are foregoing typical MLK festivities and opting for virtual commemorative celebrations. 

 

On January 15, 1908, one generation removed from slavery and just 21 years before the birth of Michael King Jr., who would later change his name to Martin, 16 African American women students at Howard University, in Washington DC, officially united to form Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, with a mission to cultivate and encourage high scholastic and ethical standards, to promote unity and friendship among college women, to study and help alleviate problems concerning girls and women to improve their social stature, to maintain a progressive interest in college life, and to be “Supreme in Service to All Mankind."

 

Today, Alpha Kappa Alpha has grown to a membership of 300,000 throughout the United States and abroad. While several notable women are members of Alpha Kappa Alpha, currently, its most famous member is Kamala Harris, the next vice-president of the United States. Harris was initiated into Alpha Kappa Alpha while a student at Howard University.

 

Dr. King’s personal history is also intertwined with Alpha Kappa Alpha. While a graduate student at Boston University, he was initiated into Alpha Phi Alpha, the first collegiate Greek-letter fraternity for African American men. It was not uncommon for Alpha Phi Alpha and Alpha Kappa Alpha members to become couples, as was the case with King and his wife, Coretta, an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha. 

 

So on this day, if you see a woman wearing pink and green, AKA letters, and a pearl necklace, be sure to wish her a Happy Founders’ Day. Also, be mindful that Dr. King would be 92 years-old today had he not been assassinated on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis on April 4, 1968. Let us remember these two icons of African American culture and American culture; both focused on civil rights and service to all. Happy Founders’ Day, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated! Happy Heavenly Birthday, Rev. Dr. King! 

Today is the day family and friends gather for Thanksgiving Dinner. For me, today is not about celebrating the pilgrims and Native Americans breaking bread together, we know what eventually happened to the Native Americans. Today, like everyday, I give thanks for all of God's blessings bestowed upon me. I give thanks for family and friends near and far and on Earth and in Heaven. I give thanks to all of the men, women and children who have sacrificed to make this world a better place. Amen.

Today is the first day of the week long celebration of Kwanzaa. It is a Pan-African holiday based on seven principles with seven main symbols that is celebrated for seven days starting December 26. A candle representing each principle is lit daily starting with the black candle in the center which represents umoja [OO-MO-JAH], unity.

Nguzo Saba [IN-GOO-ZO SAH-BAH] - The Seven Principles

Kwanzaa was created to introduce and reinforce seven basic values of African culture which contribute to building and reinforcing family, community and culture among African American people as well as Africans throughout the world African community. These values are called the Nguzo Saba which in Swahili means the Seven Principles. Developed in 1966, by Dr. Maulana Karenga, the Nguzo Saba stand at the heart of the origin and meaning of Kwanzaa, for it is these values which are not only the building blocks for community but also serve to reinforce and enhance them.

Umoja [OO-MO-JAH] (Unity) - To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation, race.
 
Kujichagulia [KOO-JEE-CHA-GOO-LEE-YAH] (Self-Determination) - To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves instead of being defined, named, created for and spoken for by others.
 
Ujima [OO-JEE-MAH] (Collective Work & Responsibility) - To build and maintain our community together and make our sisters' and brothers' problems our problems and solve them together.
 
Ujamaa [OO-JAH-MAH] (Cooperative Economics) - To build and maintain our own stores and other businesses and to profit from them together.
 
Nia [NEE-YAH] (Purpose) - To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
 
Kuumba [KOO-OOM-BAH] (Creativity) - To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
 
Imani [EE-MAH-NEE] (Faith) - To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

The Seven Symbols of Kwanzaa
 
Kwanzaa has seven basic symbols and two supplemental ones. Each represents values and concepts reflective of African culture and contributive to community building and reinforcement. The basic symbols in Swahili and then in English are:

Mazao [MAH-ZAH-O](The Crops)
These are symbolic of African harvest celebrations and of the rewards of productive and collective labor.

Mkeka [EM-KAY-KAH](The Mat)
This is symbolic of our tradition and history and therefore, the foundation on which we build.

Kinara [KEE-NAH-RAH] (The Candle Holder)
This is symbolic of our roots, our parent people -- continental Africans.

Muhindi [MOO-HEEN-DEE] (The Corn)
This is symbolic of our children and our future which they embody.



Mishumaa Saba [MEE-SHOO-MAH-AH SAH-BAH] (The Seven Candles)
These are symbolic of the Nguzo Saba, the Seven Principles, the matrix and minimum set of values which African people are urged to live by in order to rescue and reconstruct their lives in their own image and according to their own needs.



Kikombe cha Umoja [KEE-KOHM-BAY CHAH OO-MO-JAH] (The Unity Cup)
This is symbolic of the foundational principle and practice of unity which makes all else possible.



Zawadi [ZAH-WAH-DEE] (The Gifts)
These are symbolic of the labor and love of parents and the commitments made and kept by the children. 



The two supplemental symbols are:



Bendera (The Flag)
The colors of the Kwanzaa flag are the colors of the Organization Us, black, red and green; black for the people, red for their struggle, and green for the future and hope that comes from their struggle. It is based on the colors given by the Hon. Marcus Garvey as national colors for African people throughout the world.


Nguzo Saba Poster (Poster of The Seven Principles)

Kwanzaa is not anti-Christmas neither is it the black Christmas or the black Hanukkah. Kwanzaa is a non-religious and non-political holiday. It can be celebrated with family and friends of different religious practices and beliefs. Kwanzaa is celebrated for one week of the year but practiced all year-long.

The current sociological and political atmosphere in the United States makes adopting a Kwanzaa lifestyle a matter of survival for black people. Advocating for black communities, supporting black businesses and supporting black schools is imperative as more and more safety net programs are cut as well as quality public education opportunities. 

 

Enjoy this speech, in video and text, by Donovan Livingston, Ed.M.'16, student speaker at Harvard Graduate School of Education’s 2016 Convocation exercises. Instead of a traditional speech, he chose to communicate via spoken word and he is awesome. 

 

Lift Off

 

“Education then, beyond all other devices of human origin,

is a great equalizer of the conditions of men.” – Horace Mann, 1848.

At the time of his remarks I couldn’t read — I couldn’t write.

Any attempt to do so, punishable by death.

For generations we have known of knowledge’s infinite power.

Yet somehow, we have never questioned the keeper of the keys —

The guardians of information.

 

Unfortunately, I’ve seen more dividing and conquering

In this order of operations — a heinous miscalculation of reality.

For some, the only difference between a classroom and a plantation is time.

How many times must we be made to feel like quotas —

Like tokens in coined phrases? —

“Diversity. Inclusion.”

There are days I feel like one, like only —

A lonely blossom in a briar patch of broken promises.

But, hey, I’ve always been a thorn in the side of injustice.

 

Disruptive. Talkative. A distraction.

With a passion that transcends the confines of my own consciousness —

Beyond your curriculum, beyond your standards.

I stand here, a manifestation of love and pain,

With veins pumping revolution.

I am the strange fruit that grew too ripe for the poplar tree.

I am a DREAM Act, Dream Deferred incarnate.

And a movement – an amalgam of memories America would care to forget

My past, alone won’t allow me to sit still.

So my body, like my mind

Cannot be contained.

 

As educators, rather than raising your voices

Over the rustling of our chains,

Take them off. Un-cuff us.

Unencumbered by the lumbering weight

Of poverty and privilege,

Policy and ignorance.

 

I was in the 7th grade, when Ms. Parker told me,

“Donovan, we can put all of  your excess energy to good use!”

And she introduced me to the sound of my own voice.

She gave me a stage. A platform.

She told me that our stories are the ladders

That make it easier for us to touch the stars.

So climb and grab them.

Keep climbing. Grab them.

Spill your emotions in the big dipper and pour out your soul.

Light up the world with your luminous allure.

 

To educate requires Galileo-like patience.

Today, when I look my students in the eyes, all I see are constellations.

If you take the time to connect the dots,

You can plot the true shape of their genius —

Shining in their darkest hour.

 

I look each of my students in the eyes,

And see the same light that aligned Orion’s Belt

And the pyramids of Giza.

I see the same twinkle

That guided Harriet to freedom.

I see them. Beneath their masks and their mischief,

Exists an authentic frustration;

An enslavement to your standardized assessments.

 

At the core, none of us were meant to be common.

We were born to be comets,

Darting across space and time —

Leaving our mark as we crash into everything.

A crater is a reminder that something amazing happened right here —

An indelible impact that shook up the world.

Are we not astronomers — searching for the next shooting star?

I teach in hopes of turning content, into rocket ships —

Tribulations into telescopes,

So a child can see their true potential from right where they stand.

An injustice is telling them they are stars

Without acknowledging the night that surrounds them.

Injustice is telling them education is the key

While you continue to change the locks.

 

Education is no equalizer —

Rather, it is the sleep that precedes the American Dream.

So wake up — wake up! Lift your voices

Until you’ve patched every hole in a child’s broken sky.

Wake up every child so they know of their celestial potential.

I’ve been the Black hole in a classroom for far too long;

Absorbing everything, without allowing my light to escape.

But those days are done. I belong among the stars.

And so do you. And so do they.

Together, we can inspire galaxies of greatness

For generations to come.

So no — no, sky is not the limit. It is only the beginning.

Lift off.

 

~ Donovan Livingston

 

 

 

 

On this second day of the eight month in the year 2014, I declare my lifestyle change to minimalism. I experienced this epiphany as I was continuing my seemingly never-ending purging/organizing project at home. I have truly had enough of this. I need to purge way more than I had planned.

I have been blessed to have accumulated many things during my lifetime. Some things have been acquired via gifting but most are of my own doing. My friends know I’m a Barbie doll collector but most of my collection is in storage so that’s not the culprit in the issue of my personal space. I will pare that collection down a try to limit it to 50 dolls. I am spending way too much money on storage but that’s another issue. I have multiples of things that I like. I’m not wealthy but I tended to live by the mantra that if I really liked an item and wanted it (and my disposable income could cover it), go ahead and buy it. Life is short and you can’t take those things with you when die, right?

Well, I have too many things. How do I know? Well, because I’m not ‘enjoying’ those ‘things’ as much as I used to. I will enjoy my Barbies and amateur photography and a few other diversions but I want to spend more of my time connecting with and helping people. Most of my things are just in the way and interfering with my quest for a tranquil personal space. I also know that if I were to die unexpectedly, my family would likely sell my Kelly Moore camera bags and Timbuktu messenger bags and designer handbags and Barbies for a $1 a piece. 

Anywhoo, thèse bottles of Coca-Cola commemorating the 1978 Florida A&M University NCAA Division IAA Football Championship are an example of excess soon to be eliminated in my life. There are three remaining FAMU alums in my immediate household, we only need one of these bottles, not six. Can you say dustcatchers? My excess items will be included in a mega yard sale in a couple of months to raise funds for the foundation in my parents name and the items that do not sell will be donated to charity.  

I’ll dedicate a few posts of my journey to minimalism. I already feel liberated from just acknowledging my current situation. In the meantime, enjoy this abbreviated version of the classic George Carlin routine about “Stuff.”

  

 

- vb