Denver celebrates the start of Kwanzaa

Boots stomped the ground, hands smacked drums, and smiles filled faces Thursday morning at the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library in Denver.

Stay connected:
Snapchat: Denver9NEWS

9NEWS (KUSA) is located in Denver, Colorado.

[Grahameajohnson]

It's a great concept - community event, celebration of black history, etc. - on paper, but a little digging raises a couple of serious questions: First of all, though it would be great to have more celebrating and learning about their black heritage, reliable and liberal estimates only put about 1-5% of African Americans celebrating it; more disturbingly, the creator Maulana Karenga has been convicted of felonious assault and imprisonment and was sentenced to ten years in prison for actions described by his victims in a way which would best not be stated here, but can easily be found online. To be clear, however, Karenga has always vehemently denied being involved in the actions he was charged with and considers himself to have been a political prisoner.

Don't get me wrong, I do believe that Kwanzaa could still become a significant cultural celebration, but unfortunately it has some high hurdles to overcome. I wish the best of luck to all involved.