Solaanta: the reimagining of an American-rooted celebration
In the tapestry of cultural celebrations, Kwanzaa has long stood as a beacon of unity and heritage for African Americans. However, what if we were to reimagine Kwanzaa to be more specific to the unique experiences of African American Descendants of Slavery (ADOS) and rooted in the rich history of the United States? This exploration leads us to the hypothetical concept of Solaanta, derived from the ADOS Mississippian-originated Tutnese Language, as we embark on a journey to envision a celebration deeply embedded in the narrative of ADOS individuals.
Solaanta’s Genesis
Solaanta is not an actual historical tradition but an imaginative endeavor to address perceived limitations in Kwanzaa’s representation of ADOS history and lineage. The Tutnese Language, a real and existing linguistic heritage, serves as the foundation for Solaanta, offering a linguistic bridge to explore the essence of ADOS identity within the American context.
Historical Accuracy
One of the primary motivations behind Solaanta is to correct historical inaccuracies present in Kwanzaa. Unlike Kwanzaa, which draws inspiration from East African traditions, Solaanta acknowledges West Africa as the origin of most ADOS ancestors trafficked during chattel slavery. By anchoring the celebration in this historical truth, Solaanta seeks to foster a stronger connection between ADOS individuals and their more immediate ancestral roots.
Language Origins and Cultural Specificity
Solaanta embraces the ADOS-originated Tutnese Language and holds discrepancy with Kiswahili (utilized by Kwanzaa), a utility language that evolved as a result of the Arab slave trade. This linguistic shift aims to deepen the celebration’s cultural specificity, emphasizing the unique, divergent culture developed over 400 years in the U.S. among chattel slaves. Solaanta asserts that all celebrated principles within Kwanzaa can be extracted from this very distinct ADOS culture.
Flag Origin and Identity
In reimagining the celebration, Solaanta employs the colors of the Black American Heritage Flag, emphasizing a celebration rooted in U.S. origin and distancing itself from Pan African ideologies. This deliberate choice addresses concerns that Pan African ideologies tend to obscure lineage-specific plight, disparities, identity, culture, politics, and history of ADOS individuals. Solaanta seeks to celebrate the identity of ADOS individuals within the American landscape.
Symbolism of Solaanta
The centerpiece of Solaanta lies in the symbolism encapsulated by seven candles, arranged in a kinara. Each candle reflects the unique heritage and identity of U.S. chattel servants:
- Center Red Candle: Represents the core essence and energy of the Solaanta celebration, reflecting shared bloodlines linked to the U.S. historical institution of chattel enslavement.
- Black Candle: Symbolizes strength, resilience, and solidarity within the ADOS community, embodying inherited racial classification instruments.
- Yellow, Metallic Gold, or Gold Leaf, Candle: Represents prosperity, heritage, and the richness of U.S. Colonial Era culture among chattel servants, symbolizing the immense worth of their free labor.
- Tobacco-Wrapped, or Light Brown, Candle: Pays homage to the historical significance of tobacco in shaping the economic and cultural landscape of chattel servants.
- Chain-Linked, or Silver, Candle: Symbolizes the bondage under which ancestors were trafficked into the U.S. and represents the genealogical interconnectedness of ADOS people.
- Rope-Wrapped, or Dark Brown, Candle: Signifies resilience and strength derived from ancestral ties, representing endurance in the face of constant instances of severance of ADOS identity.
- Cotton-Adorned, or White, Candle: Represents the agricultural roots and heritage of U.S. chattel servants, highlighting the connection to the land and the legacy of cultivation.
Each candle, meticulously chosen and adorned, contributes to the rich symbolism of Solaanta, reflecting the diverse facets of ADOS culture and heritage.
Solaanta celebratory symbols encompass:
- A natural fiber woven mat serving as a foundation for various symbols.
- A Kinara, a candle holder for seven candlesticks.
- Seven candles, each representing a unique principle.
- Elements from crops cultivated by US Chattel servants, notably tobacco and cotton, used as garnishing or other decor.
- Seagrass or items from the Gullah Geechee culture.
- A cup or bottle with fermented fluid, poured in commemoration of enslaved ancestors.
- Gifts symbolizing transferred heritage and wealth, including knowledge, oral history, family photos, family trees, crafts, quilts, afghans, folklore, heritage-specific textiles or garments, raw gold, endowments, trusts, skills, and more.
Supplemental representations include the black, red and yellow colors of the Black American Heritage Flag, and African American ADOS written books and artworks—all to represent values and concepts reflective of ADOS culture, promote ethnic orthodoxy, and contribution to community building and reinforcement.
The Seven Principles
Solaanta celebrates seven principles of Black American Heritage. These seven principles together comprise a "common" philosophy of lineage-specific heritage, cultural-specific preservation, identity delineation, and collective self-interest.
Each of the seven days of Solaanta is dedicated to one of the principles, as follows:
- Lineage: To strive for and to maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and ethnicity.
- Volition: To define, name and narrate ourselves, as well as to create and speak for ourselves.
- Socialize: To cultivate, reconnect, and maintain our social ties; identify, own and resolve internal conflict without treachery.
- Commune: To develop and maintain our own network of businesses, schools, residential enclaves, and other entities with ethnic-specific purposes.
- Repair: To prioritize collective advocacy for the building and developing of those within our ethnic group in order to restore our people, as a whole, to their unique traditional greatness.
- Preserve: To always do as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave where we exist more beautiful, efficient and beneficial than we inherited it.
- Discern: To apply wisdom and education in determining the intentions of others, always hoping for the best intentions, yet applying data, thorough research and consultation with subject matter experts in pursuing conclusions and solutions for oneself and our collective group.
Observances and Traditions
Families celebrating Solaanta decorate their households with ethnic-specific objects of art and other heritage elements. They’d wear garments with ADOS ethnic-specific patterned textiles and display fresh fruits and vegetables planted, harvested, and consumed by U.S. chattel servants that represent abundance. Solaanta ceremonies include traditional an ethnic-originated musical selections, libations, traditional (Juba, etc…) dance, readings of Black American Heritage folklore, discussions on principles, candle-lighting rituals, artistic performances, and a culminating feast — Jonkaanu.
Jonkaanu: A Feast of Discernment
Derived from a celebration brought to the Carolinas during the colonial era by Jamaican slaves, the word Jonkaanu represents a “Feast of Discernment” within Solaanta. Practices include greetings and atonement, reminiscence, reassessment and reconsideration, linguistics, appreciation and celebration, ancestral commemoration, and salutations.
Conclusion
Solaanta stands as a compelling re-imagination of Kwanzaa, offering a celebration deeply rooted in the identity, history, and culture of ADOS individuals within the American landscape. While Solaanta is a hypothetical concept, it prompts us to reflect on the importance of cultural celebrations that authentically represent the diverse experiences and heritage of specific communities. This exploration invites a broader conversation on the evolving nature of traditions and the potential for more inclusive, culturally specific celebrations that resonate with the lived experiences of those they aim to honor.
