A print–based fisking of Debra Dickerson's Kwanzaa editorial from the other day.
Kicking Dirt on Kwanzaa
Sat Dec 27
By Kimberly Ellis
It never fails. Every single year for the past six years, at least, I have witnessed the consistent pattern. At least one or more persons from an online discussion list usually waits until December 26th, the first day of Kwanzaa, and sends an anti–Kwanzaa editorial published, you guessed it, just in time for the holiday season!
Sometimes it's written by a right–wing basher, other times it's written by a Negro working for a conservative think tank. Sometimes it's written by a supposedly hard–core, fundamentalist Black Christian insistent upon the idolatry of the holiday, always forgetting the legacy of the Crusades and the pagan origin of the generous–hearted St. Nicholas traditions. Other
times, it's written by a more balanced hand in both perspective and orientation. But at all times, the conclusion is the same—there is no real or valid reason to celebrate Kwanzaa.
This year's offering was written by Debra Dickerson, journalist, lifetime overachiever and author of "An American Story". Her article entitled, "A Case of the Kwanzaa Blues" appeared in the New York Times opinion section on December 26, 2003, to which this article is a response.
Editor's Note: Dr. Kimberly Ellis is a freelance writer as well as a Visiting Professor in Africana Studies at the University of Pittsburgh.
