Okay, so this really isn’t about Christmas at all. Well, not really. It’s interesting to me to see how many people have co-opted holidays like Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and even Festivus, to suit their own nefarious needs and/or wants. They don’t know the “reason for the season” 
but they insist they need to partake in the celebrations that accompany whatever holidays they want to follow. I remember on Friends, Ross’s son Ben is learning how he’s half-Jewish and how Jews celebrate Hanukkah, but he just wants Christmas and Santa Claus. Then I read a story about a little girl who was Jewish who would get to spend Christmas Eve at her friend’s house and wanted “that kind of rich cousin of Jesus Christ” to visit her house too, and can’t understand why it doesn’t happen for her. Now, though, so many of the holidays (all of them) are so commercialized that we feel we need them too. I was in the Hallmark store the other week and saw an entire section of cards with African themes (and kinte designs) dedicated to the magic of Kwanzaa. You heard me. The magic of Kwanzaa. Oy vey.
And I could care less about the commercialization. This morning my daughter was so excited that Santa got her the DreamLites buddy that her mother and I said we wouldn’t get her because of the expense. Santa has endless expense accounts so he can do that, but parents have only so deep pockets and no deeper. And then the credit card bills come in January and we look twice, close our eyes, sigh, and watch while our kids no longer play with those much-wanted, much-expensive presents that are now collecting dust, that we still have to pay for. I downloaded a Hanukkah playlist a couple of years ago with classic Jewish songs on it for any occasion, but they’ve been stolen for commercialized Hanukkah purposes. Funnily enough, Hanukkah isn’t even one of the major Jewish holidays, but it’s often most advertized due to its proximity to Christmas. I’m getting verklempt. Talk amongst yourselves.
But, seriously, us black folk don’t mind having more presents. Not quite the eight crazy nights of Hanukkah, but Kwanzaa represents even more of the selfish nature of the now, and the lack of forethought for the future. We say we’re honoring our traditions and heritage, but I know if I showed up in Africa today they would not embrace me as a brother, no more than they would embrace a Puerto Rican if he/she showed up. I am proud to be an American, and while I honor and respect my roots, I know that they’re just that — roots — and that I’ve come a long way since then. Traditions are one thing if they have honest meaning for you, but something entirely different when they’re just something you feel you have to do because that’s the way it’s always been done.
Now, we all know that Christmas is a holiday for children, and yet they’ve been dominated lately (believe me, I work in retail) by electronica and high-end toys (think the $58 Furby and $50 LOL Elmo dolls that sell out in many stores), as seen by the ridiculous Black Friday (and Grey Thursday Night) sales of iPads, TVs, and various other things our children neither need nor appreciate. Back in my day (yeah, I’m old as dirt) we were happy to get a dump truck that retailed for $5 and a yo-yo that retailed for $1, and we smiled wider than ever. We appreciated every little thing we got, because it was all special. With so many holidays now, we dilute that special feeling, with so much reliance on high-end goods, and not on our imaginations, we lose out.
And tomorrow, I get to put out Valentine’s Day displays. Yay.
Sam
Sam's Online Journal 