For those of you interested, this is the history of Kwanza.
While commonly viewed as an "African" holiday, observed from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1, Kwanzaa actually was created in the U.S. in 1966 by Dr. Maulana "Ron" Karenga, the head of a violent black-power group, United Slaves Organization, which was a rival to the Black Panthers.
In the 1970s, Karenga served four years in prison for conspiracy and assault in the torture of two female followers. Karenga was convicted of whipping them with electrical cords and beating them with a karate baton after stripping them naked. He placed in the mouth of one of the victims a hot soldering iron, also scarring her face with the device. He put one of her big toes in a vise, and detergent and running water in both of their mouths.
In a 1978 interview quoted in the Washington Post, Karenga said, "People think it's African, but it's not. I came up with Kwanzaa because black people in this country wouldn't celebrate it if they knew it was American. Also, I put it around Christmas because I knew that's when a lot of bloods (blacks) would be partying."
Kwanzaa is taught in public schools, recognized by corporations and was saluted in a proclamation by President Bush in 2002.
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