Today’s topic is on the 3rd principle of Kwanzaa which is Ujima (OO-JEE-mah). But before we get into it, let’s briefly talk about Kwanzaa.
Kwanzaa
Kwanzaa is a 7 day, non-religious Black American and Pan African holiday celebrated primarily in America.
It was created by Maulana Karenga in 1966. Karenga is a professor and chair of Africana Studies at California State University, Long Beach.
From what I have gathered, Kwanzaa was inspired by African harvest celebrations that promote family, community, and culture.
In my immediate family we did not know a lot about Kwanzaa growing up. But over time I began to get educated on what Kwanzaa was about.
After learning more about Kwanzaa over the last few years, the principles of Kwanzaa line up with the principles that I live my own life by.
The 7 days of Kwanzaa are celebrated from December 26th to January 1st. In this short series, I’m going to go over the Nguzo Saba which is also known as the 7 principles of Kwanzaa.
The third principle of Kwanzaa is Ujima which means Collective Work and Responsibility.
Ujima (Collective Work And Responsibility)
The specific meaning of Ujima is to build and maintain our community together and make our brother’s and sister’s problems our problems and to solve them together.
A recurring theme of Kwanzaa is togetherness. Nobody can win the title alone.
As a community we have a host of issues. The worst crime is that a lot of times people do not care about helping out anyone but themselves.
Have you ever seen the horrendous fight videos on social media? Many people would rather watch, film, and yell “Worldstar” than to step in and try to defuse the situation.
I’ve seen people getting beat half to death while people are filming and laughing. It says a lot about who we are as a people.
As far as the problems in our community, health issues rank number 1.
Sedentary lifestyles, cancer, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and now this Covid-19 virus run rampant in our community.
There are health issues that could be addressed by educating each other about the extreme importance of living The Fit Life.
Your health is your wealth. If you do not have your health, you do not have anything.
Now some of those health issues may unfortunately be genetic. You could still develop them despite doing things the right way.
Nothing in life is 100 percent, but I’d rather be the guy who minimizes his chances of developing serious health issues by living The Fit Life.
Financial issues are also a major plight. These issues could be addressed by educating each other about the importance of building good credit and managing your money better.
There are emotional issues that could be addressed by educating each other about the importance of letting go of bad baggage.
When I was a young man, I got into lifting weights so that I could add some muscle onto my then skinny frame.
As I matured and looked around the land, it occurred to me that people really needed help with their health.
I made other people’s health problems (lack of training, poor diet, bad sleep, low confidence, and high stress) my own problems. And that led to the creation of my business, my website, and my gym.
I give away free information on this website so that my brother’s and sister’s have the necessary information to make positive changes with their health.
Conclusion
Let’s strive to build and maintain our community together and make our brother’s and sister’s problems our problems and try to solve them together.
Great teams win championships.
I’ll holla at you next time.
The People’s Trainer
Fitman