Kwanzaa. Wtf is it, even? From where does it come? And how has the average white person come under the absurd impression that black Americans, who are overwhelmingly Christian, celebrate this ‘ancient, sacred holiday,’ invented whole cloth several decades ago, now commemorated at the highest levels of our government? Buckle up for a Christmas treat. It’s a special delivery from River Page.

-Solana

From December 26th to January 1st of each year, some small percent of Americans claim to celebrate Kwanzaa, a holiday created in the 1960s as an alternative to Christmas for black Americans. Despite its niche status, even among the black population, politicians and the federal government have elevated it to be on equal footing with Christmas and Hannukah, ancient religious holidays that are far more widely practiced. In 1999, President Clinton released an official proclamation celebrating Kwanzaa, and since then, other presidents have done the same. Since 1997, the USPS has sold Kwanzaa stamps, and will release a new one in 2024. Last December, NYC mayor Eric Adams attended a dual Kwanzaa-Hannukah celebration at Carnegie Hall alongside the reverend Al Sharpton and rabbi Shmuley Boteach, among other high-profile guests. While these public displays of righteousness and allyship are notable and worth scrutinizing, this isn’t a story about elites performing for the press — it’s a story about manufactured multiculturalism, the FBI, and the mainstreaming of a holiday created by a LAPD-armed black nationalist and convicted torturer who advocated the genocide of all white people.