1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,040 Speaker 1: Hey, history fans, if you want a double dose of history, 2 00:00:03,080 --> 00:00:06,280 Speaker 1: here's a rerun for today, brought to you by Tracy V. Wilson. 3 00:00:07,840 --> 00:00:10,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to this Day in History Class from how Stuff 4 00:00:10,320 --> 00:00:12,520 Speaker 1: Works dot Com and from the desk of Stuff you 5 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:14,960 Speaker 1: missed in History Class. It's the show where we explore 6 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:17,160 Speaker 1: the past one day at a time with a quick 7 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:24,360 Speaker 1: look at what happened today in history. Hi, I'm Holly 8 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:27,320 Speaker 1: Fry and I am sitting in this week for Tracy V. Wilson. 9 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:31,600 Speaker 1: It is December and on this day in nineteen sixty six, 10 00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:35,760 Speaker 1: Quanza was celebrated for the first time. Just in case 11 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:38,520 Speaker 1: you do not know, Quanza is a seven day Pan 12 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:42,919 Speaker 1: African holiday and it's intended to celebrate African family, culture, 13 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:46,560 Speaker 1: and community. But it grew out of a really tumultuous time. 14 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:50,280 Speaker 1: In a six day stretch during August of nineteen sixty five, 15 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:54,720 Speaker 1: the predominantly black Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts was devastated 16 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:57,040 Speaker 1: by a series of riots, which started with the traffic 17 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: stop that quickly escalated into a massive cont act between 18 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:04,680 Speaker 1: police and the neighborhood's residents. By the time the riots ended, 19 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:07,880 Speaker 1: thirty four people had been killed. And another one thousand 20 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:11,760 Speaker 1: thirty two injured. One thousand buildings were destroyed, and an 21 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:16,160 Speaker 1: estimated forty million dollars in damages was done. Dr mal 22 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:19,240 Speaker 1: Lana Karenga, a faculty member and former chair of Black 23 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:22,399 Speaker 1: Studies at California State University at Long Beach, was an 24 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:25,800 Speaker 1: activist a year into his doctoral work in African Affairs 25 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:27,960 Speaker 1: at u c l A. At the time, in an 26 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:31,160 Speaker 1: effort to rebuild a sense of community, Karenga founded the 27 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:36,200 Speaker 1: organization US to encourage cultural unity among African Americans, and 28 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:39,960 Speaker 1: under the auspices of US, Karenga organized Black Power rallies 29 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:44,040 Speaker 1: and also created the idea of Quanza. The first week 30 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:47,960 Speaker 1: Long Kansas Celebration began on December twenty six of nineteen 31 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:53,240 Speaker 1: sixty six, and Karenga is a controversial figure. He was 32 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:56,160 Speaker 1: born Ronald McKinley Everett in nineteen forty one, and he 33 00:01:56,200 --> 00:01:59,480 Speaker 1: took the name mal Lana, which means master teacher in Swahili, 34 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:02,880 Speaker 1: and Karenga, which means keeper of tradition in the same language, 35 00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:06,000 Speaker 1: while he was working on his doctorate. He has come 36 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:09,960 Speaker 1: under criticism from a variety of quarters his past as 37 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:14,519 Speaker 1: an activist has been characterized as extremist. His organization US 38 00:02:14,639 --> 00:02:17,680 Speaker 1: was in conflict with the Black Panthers in the nineteen sixties, 39 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:22,440 Speaker 1: which often led to violence, sometimes lethal. The FBI investigated 40 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:26,240 Speaker 1: US and the Black Panthers, and in nineteen eight, FBI 41 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:29,360 Speaker 1: Director J. Edgar Hoover called both the Black Panther Party 42 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:33,560 Speaker 1: and US black extremist groups. Hoover also felt that the 43 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:36,919 Speaker 1: Panthers and US needed to be kept divided to prevent 44 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:41,400 Speaker 1: a union between them which would consolidate power. In nineteen 45 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:44,639 Speaker 1: seventy one, Carenga fell into conflict with his own colleagues 46 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:48,280 Speaker 1: in the US organization. Also that year, he was convicted 47 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:52,000 Speaker 1: and served time for felonious assault and imprisonment in a 48 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:55,200 Speaker 1: case which involved the torture of two women who witnesses 49 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:59,320 Speaker 1: said Karenga believed to be plotting against him. Karenga has 50 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:03,440 Speaker 1: consistently denied any involvement with this incident. He was released 51 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:09,359 Speaker 1: in nineteen In relation to Kwanzakarenga has also been criticized 52 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 1: in that case for allowing it to become a commercial 53 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:16,280 Speaker 1: holiday in conflict with the ideals of celebrating and exploring 54 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:21,160 Speaker 1: African identity. And community. But despite the criticisms leveled against 55 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:24,799 Speaker 1: its creator, in the decades since its inception, Quanza has 56 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 1: become part of millions of people's holiday celebrations around the world. 57 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:31,760 Speaker 1: It is at this point bigger than its creator, and 58 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:35,320 Speaker 1: it has become associated with finding and celebrating joy and 59 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:40,400 Speaker 1: pride in African heritage and traditions. Harvest celebrations from a 60 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:44,600 Speaker 1: variety of African cultures, including Ashanti in Zulu, have inspired 61 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:47,840 Speaker 1: and informed the practices of the holiday. The name for 62 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:51,880 Speaker 1: Kwanza comes from the phrase matunda ya Kwanza, which translates 63 00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:56,320 Speaker 1: from the Swahili to first fruits. Words in Swahili were 64 00:03:56,360 --> 00:03:59,520 Speaker 1: specifically chosen for the holiday because it is a language 65 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:02,200 Speaker 1: spoken by a large number of people, and the language 66 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:05,760 Speaker 1: is not connected to any specific region or tribe in Africa. 67 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:10,800 Speaker 1: Karenga has described it as a non ethnic tongue. Each 68 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:13,960 Speaker 1: of Kwanzas seven days of celebration from December twenty six 69 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:16,599 Speaker 1: to January one, is dedicated to one of the seven 70 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:21,280 Speaker 1: principles of Quanza called Gouzo Saba. Those principles are unity, 71 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:28,440 Speaker 1: self determination, collective responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith. 72 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:32,760 Speaker 1: As any holiday. There are variations in the way Quanza 73 00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:36,040 Speaker 1: is celebrated from home to home and community to community, 74 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:38,919 Speaker 1: but for most a candle is lit each night in 75 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:42,000 Speaker 1: a candle holder called a kinara, often by a child, 76 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:45,359 Speaker 1: and then there is discussion focused on the principle related 77 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:48,359 Speaker 1: to that day. On December thirty one to the final 78 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:51,480 Speaker 1: night of Quanza, there is a feast called a Karamu, 79 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:54,960 Speaker 1: and the final day, January one, is one of reflection. 80 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:58,680 Speaker 1: Thanks to Eve's Jeff Cote for research on this episode 81 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:02,640 Speaker 1: and for Casey Pegram and Chandler Maze doing their amazing 82 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:05,520 Speaker 1: sound work on it. You can always subscribe to This 83 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:08,760 Speaker 1: Day in History class on Apple Podcasts, the I Heart 84 00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:12,359 Speaker 1: Radio app, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Tomorrow, we 85 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:15,320 Speaker 1: will have a story of sobriety and a little bit 86 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:15,920 Speaker 1: of violence.