Kwanzaa Stories -Ujima - Collective Work and Responsibility

For Kwanzaa 2020, I am highlighting people who exemplify the principles of Kwanzaa.  

People who bring the wisdom and courage to make sure Black Lives Matter. Today's 

principle is Ujima - Collective Work and Responsibility.

Counting The Days of Kwanzaa: Honoring the Principles

This was first published on  December 26, 2018 and still relevant today. 

The first principle of Kwanzaa is Umoja: Unity

Kwanzaa is that holiday we talk about a lot but tend to forget to celebrate enough.  In the mad rush to celebrate the week between Christmas and New Years, this holiday gets pushed to the side with a greeting of Happy Kwanzaa or if we are more enlightened with the question, Habari gani? But there are a lot of reasons to recognize this holiday. First of all celebrations are always great fun. Especially a holiday that brings us together to celebrate our culture and heritage. The end of the year is a good time to connect to our values and principles as a family and a nation. Especially after a year when our moral judgement has been challenged.  Think of Kwanzaa as that special time each year that gives us a fresh new look into who we are as a people. This year's theme is ““Kwanzaa and the WellBeing of the World: Living and Uplifting the Seven Principles.” At a time when principles and integrity have been pushed aside, The Nguzo Saba: The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa reminds us that everyone should live by principles every day. Our goal should always be to leave the world a better place.

For seven days Maple Sugar Child wants to help you stay ahead of the holiday week so that you can celebrate Kwanzaa. Enjoy our culture, history, philosophy, art and music. Each day we will share an inspirational story or message to remind you that this holiday is special.

Donny Hathaway's This Christmas Celebrates 50th Anniversary

December 9, 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of Donny Hathaway's holiday anthem "This Christmas." Get into the spirit with Donny's first ever official music video, an animated special drawn by famed cartoonist Lonnie Milsap.

Merry Christmas!

South African Animated Film Takes on Climate Change

 Look for more Black Girl Power in 2021

South Africa-based Lucan has released a trailer for their upcoming animated series, Isaura, currently in development. The series follows Isaura, a young girl from a fishing village in Mozambique who attains the ability to breathe underwater and communicate with turtles as she journeys along the east coast of Africa. The series will feature her fight to conserve the ocean, as well as various social and political climate change issues.

Isaura is the brainchild of Lucan, an animation and film collective based in Cape Town. The series fuses Africa’s southern and eastern coastal folklore and culture, emphasizing the importance of a young, African female protagonist when so much of modern media diminishes and depicts African countries as victims of war, poverty, and environmental devastation. Throughout the season, viewers will travel through the streets and coast of Mozambique with Isaura and her family, who make their living as fishermen in a small village. Isaura evolves into a bright young woman, teaching young audiences to be empowered, despite how small and insignificant they may feel at times.

Director Andrew Mcnally and AD Wian van Bergen at Lucan: “The show centers around Isaura, a resilient and resourceful girl living in a coastal village in Mozambique.

“After risking her own life to save a turtle, she is rewarded with a powerful and ancient talisman that allows her to breathe underwater and communicate with turtles. As bearer of the Talisman, Isaura becomes the first human guardian in centuries entrusted with protecting the ocean and restoring the connection between humans and animals.

Look for Isaura in 2021. It is still in development and has no confirmed release date.

Yara Shahidi's Barbie Shero Doll Introduces Young Girls to their Voting Rights

 We can look forward to a new season of Black Girl Power

Yara Shahidi, actress and activist has been honored for her social and political activism with her very own Barbie Shero Doll. Mattel as part of the toy company’s ongoing Role Model Series aims to inspire young girls by highlighting empowering female role models including Alex Morgan, Naomi Osaka and Adwoa Aboah. Today the grown-ish star has become one of the most influential celebrities of her generation speaking out on political issues, feminism, racism, STEM awareness and other social justice issues..

Now, ahead of the 2020 presidential election, Mattel is relaunching the collectable doll to encourage young people to learn more about the voting process and cast a ballot if they are able.  The doll rocks an Afro and the same Tory Burch “Vote” t-shirt the actress wore to the Eighteen X 18 Presents We Vote Next Summit in September 2018. 

The collectible doll “empowers the next generation of voters to stand up for what they believe in, emphasizes the importance of using one’s voice at every age, and shows young voters how they hold the power to help shape a better future,” a Barbie press release states. It retails for $29.99 and is available now for pre-sale exclusively on Amazon and barbie.com (the doll officially launches on Oct. 9).

The Obamas' Higher Ground brings Black Girl Power to the Screen

  In 2021 we can look forward to starting a new year with Black Girl Power

President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s production company, Higher Ground, is adapting Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty and illustrator David Roberts into an animated Netflix series. Created by Chris Nee, known for the hit children’s television series Doc McStuffins, Vampirina, Little Bill, and others, the show will center on Ada Twist, an 8-year old who happens to be an extremely brilliant, young, Black scientist. There will be themes of friendship, scientific discovery and teamwork. Netflix has ordered 40, 12-minute episodes.

Not only will the show feature a brown-skinned little girl, the animated series will also have Kerri Grant, who has worked as a screenwriter for shows such as Mira, the Royal Detective and Nella the Princess Knight as the showrunner for Ada Twist, Scientist. 

In addition to science-based themes, the series will also feature real scientists. In a recent statement to Deadline, Nee stated, “As a fan of the books, I was taken with the diverse characters, striking designs and vital message that science matters. Plus, Ada fulfills my personal need to populate children’s television with strong girls who aren’t afraid to be the smartest kids in the room. Once Kerri Grant came on board to showrun, I knew we had the dream team to bring this special series to life.” 

Grant is thrilled to be a part of this project as she explained to Deadline, “As a young, curious Black girl who grew up loving TV, I simply became accustomed to rarely seeing images that reflected me onscreen — and the ones that did, represented an anti-intellectual stereotype that led me to hide my own light under a bushel. “To be a part of bringing a show to kids that features a young, Black girl being unapologetically the smartest kid in the room, in a world as diverse and visually stunning as the one created by the book series’ author and illustrator, fills my heart to capacity. Working with Chris Nee, my old boss, and certified preschool TV hit-maker; and Higher Ground and their commitment to representation, dreaming big, and excellence, has been the alignment of so many stars, it’s truly a celestial event.

We can look forward to seeing Ada Twist, Scientist on the screen in 2021.

Bringing the Message of One Love to the Most Vulnerable

We all share the same home...We are one people, one love.

                                                                                          John R. Lewis

"Over forty years ago, my father wrote One Love about unity, peace and universal love during a time when there was much trouble in the world.

 Even in a time when we aren’t able to get together, his message remains true today, we can get through this global crisis if we come together through one love and one heart."

                                                                                           Cedella Marley

In the midst of a worldwide pandemic having an anthem that brings us all together is empowering. UNICEF has chosen Bob Marley's "One Love" as the anthem to benefit children, distressed by COVID-19.  When invited by UNICEF to contribute to a philanthropic cause to help the most disadvantaged children, Bob Marley's widow Rita, eldest daughter Cedella, son Stephen and grandson Skip collaborated to reimagine the iconic reggae song that the BBC named the millennium song of the century in 1999. Marley family members lead by Stephen and Skip Marley invited a global chorus to collaborate on the project with voices representing Brazil, New Zealand, India, Mali, Nigeria, Jamaica, Syria, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Cedella Marley, three-time Grammy award winning singer, and eldest daughter of Rita and Bob Marley, explained that “Daddy would be happy to know his message of unity is being heard. "One Love" was written as a call for global solidarity at a time when the world was very divided, much as it is now.”  She believes,“Only by uniting with one love and one heart can we defeat this virus, protect our children, and make the world a more just and equal place.” The reimagined version with its unifying message debuted on July 18.

As Cedella further explains, “All over the world, children and families are suffering. Whether they are living in refugee camps, slums or favelas, or they lack access to healthcare or school, or are being treated unfairly because of their race, religion, ethnicity or gender, our dream with this song is to reimagine a world where all children are treated equally – just as my father intended.”

Your donation will go towards UNICEF’s emergency efforts to support children and their families with what they need to stay safe, delivering: soap, masks, gloves, hygiene kits, protective equipment, life-saving information and support to healthcare systems. Join UNICEF and the Marley family to help. COVID-19 hits vulnerable children and families hardest. 

With every UNICEF donation, Pandora will match up to $1 million.

Even before UNICEF contacted her, Cedella was introducing children to her father's music with children's book based on her father's songs including One Love, Every Little Thing, and Get Up, Stand Up. Through these various projects, she intends to keep her father's legacy alive. Each book emphasizes the importance of community, and is filled with positive images and visual diversity for young children. Copies can be purchased at neighborhood bookstores, Barnes and Noble and Amazon.

Support children affected by Covid 19 around the world with donations to UNICEF, and share Bob Marley's message of One Love with your children and community.