Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) - Day Two Of Kwanzaa
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Welcome to The Politocrat. I'm Omar Moore. It is Friday, December the 27th, 2024. On this edition of The Politocrat, Day 2 of Kwanzaa. Kuji Chagulia. Self-determination. I'll be talking about this principle of Kwanzaa coming up next.

greetings and salutations dear listener welcome to another edition of the blue great daily podcast happy friday to you gosh it doesn't feel like friday though does it it doesn't feel like friday it's friday today it's hard to believe that because you know this whole christmas thing that gets in the middle of the week and when christmas falls on a wednesday it just f's everything up you

At least it does in my mind because I didn't know whether I was coming or going these last couple of days. I mean, you just didn't know what day of the week it was. You know, you have Monday, then you have Tuesday, and then all of a sudden, what's the next day? It's just Christmas. Oh, well, what does that mean? Does it mean it's Wednesday or does it mean that it's Christmas? Or does it mean that it's both? Obviously. Obviously.

It does mean that it's both, but it didn't feel like both. It only felt like one. And usually when Christmas falls on any day of the week, it never feels like that day of the week, no matter what day of the week it actually is. But when Christmas falls, it just, it's Christmas. And so there is no day of the week to attach to it. At least that's how I view these things. But particularly when Christmas falls in the middle of a week, now that is where your head really gets screwed up and you're

That certainly happened to me. And I'm still feeling the effects of it because I really don't know that it's Friday today. Well, I do know it's Friday, but it feels like another day. I did pop on social media briefly to post...

this feeling that I had that it was no day rather than Friday. And someone said to me, well, for that person, it felt like today is Sunday. And yeah, you just don't know what day. It just doesn't feel like the day that it actually is. It feels like another day of the week. And for me, I don't even know that it feels like any day of the week at all. I mean, if this is Friday, it doesn't feel like a Friday. Now,

Oh, gosh, someone would say, you know, well, what does Friday feel like? What's Friday supposed to feel like? Well, you know what it feels like, especially whether you are employed or not, whether you're working or not. Friday comes around and there's a certain feeling that you get. I'll put it that way. And so that feeling is not the one I have right now. Let me just put it that way.

And so it's just peculiar. It's just peculiar. And I'm sure I'll feel the same way next week when New Year's hits, although New Year's is a bit different. New Year's happens to be my favorite, I call it holiday, New Year's Eve, which is not a holiday of sorts. But New Year's Eve is a terrific time because, again, as I've said, I think on this podcast on a number of occasions in the past,

New Year's Eve is that day where you can reflect and also look forward before the new year begins. And I think that that's a unique thing to do, where you have the opportunity on the very last day of a year to look back at that year, assess it. Now, you can assess any time during any part of any year. I get that. But on December the 31st, you have that ability to look back at the year, see what you liked about it, see what you didn't, and also look

be excited about the possibilities for the year to come which is of course would be just hours away when you get to December the 31st and I think that that possibility before you actually step into the brand new year to come is an exciting thing and you can do that in so many different ways including celebrate whether it was a good year for you you can celebrate that obviously if it's not such a good year for you then it's a more sobering kind of look but you

There's still an excitement about the possibilities of what the next year can bring. And that's the kind of thing that I get excited about when I talk about New Year's Eve, when I think about New Year's Eve and so forth.

That is why I think New Year's Eve is a really good day. It's one of my favorite days of the year, if not the most. Now for some people, for a lot of people actually, New Year's Eve, and I don't know if that applies to you, dear listener, New Year's Eve can actually be the most depressing day of the year, short of Christmas. People don't like New Year's Eve for lots of reasons. The idea that people are out partying and getting drunk and

People obviously want to stay away from that, get away from, you know, the rowdiness of that. And, you know, people just would rather just stick their head under the covers and go to sleep early and bring in the new year that way, you know, wake up and then it's January 1st. And so there's lots of people who cannot stand New Year's Eve for just one or two of the reasons that I've put forth, but lots of other reasons that I have not put forth. And so it will be very interesting to see how

How do you approach New Year's Eve?

But what do you plan to do on New Year's Eve, if anything? Do you plan to do anything? Do you plan to stick your head on the covers and just usher in the new year that way? Do you plan to have a little quiet celebration? Are you going to be celebrating? Maybe you've had a very difficult year and you're not celebrating anything. Well, maybe you've had a decent year, but you don't celebrate anything and you're not choosing to because that's just not what you do on New Year's Eve. So

There's a million ways to look at this, obviously, but the whole point here for me is, what day is it again? Dear listener, welcome back to this Friday edition of the... God, it doesn't feel like Friday. ...of the Politocrat Daily Podcast. And I have to say...

We are in the midst of Kwanzaa now, so happy Kwanzaa to you. It's the second day of Kwanzaa, which is a seven-day celebration, but what I say, it's really a year-long, year-round celebration of the seven principles of the Nguzo Saba. Of course, Kwanzaa developed in 1966. That's when it was first celebrated. It is a holiday here in the United States for African Americans, but really it's for anyone who is interested in

abiding by these principles. And there are seven principles, Umoja, which means unity, Kujichagalia, which means self-determination, Ujima, collective work and responsibility, Ujama, cooperative economics, Nia, purpose, Kuumba, creativity, and Imani, which means faith. And so those are the seven principles. You can celebrate them at any day of the week or year. You can celebrate them in order.

that I've just read them out in, or you can celebrate them in any order you wish, or you can celebrate all of them in the same day or even in the same hour. I mean, there's no hard and fast rule to it. And as I said, you can celebrate it all year round. And so if you are an African American or if you're anyone else for that matter, you can celebrate these principles. So today's principle is kuji chagulia, kuji chagulia.

And that means self-determination. And what this principle espouses is the purpose of or the idea that we name ourselves, define ourselves and create for ourselves and speak for ourselves. That's what Kuji Chagulia is. That's the principle of Kwanzaa that is on the second day of Kwanzaa, which is today.

And that means self-determination, to have autonomy, to speak for yourself, to define yourself, to name yourself. And this principle really rings home for me because I have said so often here that you have to define who you are. You cannot seek validation from other people. You've got to validate yourself and you have to be the one who does that. No one else can do that for you but you.

And people who give you validation can take it away in a heartbeat. They can take it away overnight. They can take it away in a second. And if you are someone who lives for validation by others, prepare to really be disappointed because that's what happens. People do turn around and they turn on you. They flip on you like IHOP. And you just don't want to be putting yourself in a position where you're defending yourself.

or seeking other people's validation. Now, I understand if it's someone who you care about deeply, who you love, who you really look up to, or you really care about, and they validate you, and that makes you feel good, your peers, whatever it might be. Because, you know, people get awards, and they thank their peers, if it's their peers who give them the awards, rather if it's from critics, or from anyone else, or whatever. But

The bottom line is, is that validation is yours and you need to validate yourself and you need to love yourself. And Kujichagalia focuses on having control over yourself and your actions and what you do.

to put those into play. Gosh, that sounds like a deja vu moment because I could swear that I was saying this just the other day on this podcast. And Kujichagulia, which of course is self-determination, is about independence, is about autonomy, is about your own desire to be who you are in the world, to define yourself, not to have someone else define you. How many times have we seen that?

where people in the spotlight, in the public eye, allow other people to define them. Where the media does that, defining someone before they really define themselves. Where Hollywood does that. If you are an actor, for example, of a certain, you know, you could be a male actor, a female actor, a trans actor, whomever, right, that you are, and you're an actor,

And then Hollywood pigeonholes you into roles and you get typecast because you want the money, you need the money, you want to build a resume and you want to build some economic, you know, some financials and some income rather. And you're playing these same roles of the put-upon wife or the shuckster, the, you know, shucking and jiving person, you know, the person that's always grinning and skinning and smiling, you know, whatever.

And then you can't get out of that all of a sudden. And then the only way to get out of that is to get out of the industry or just really just break in a radical way and decide to go elsewhere and get a new agent. And then that agent try to get you very different roles. You know, there are people in the industry who have done that.

And they happen to be in a position that they can do that, but very few people can in Hollywood. But my whole point is, is that self-determination, I think is really one of the most important principles of Kwanzaa, one of the most important ones. There's a power in defining who you are. There's a power in naming yourself. I just go back, as I say this, I flash back to the 1970s and roots with LeVar Burton.

And the white enslavement owner, the white enslaver, who, you know, shouts at LeVar Burton's character and says, your name is Toby. Toby is your name. And LeVar Burton, who, of course, plays Kunta Kinte, says, Kunta Kinte. My name is Kunta Kinte. And, of course, the white enslaver whips away.

um, LeVar Burton. And again, LeVar Burton's character says, you know, my name is Kunta Kinte. And I think after several more beatings, if I remember correctly, he ends up saying my name is Toby or something like that. And so I know it's, it's a,

Probably not the best comparison or the best analogy, but my whole point is that we need to name ourselves and define ourselves for who we are in this world. You and I need to be defining ourselves, naming ourselves, doing for ourselves.

setting up our own businesses, setting up our own agendas for 2025. We need to chart that course and no one else can do that but us. And so I'm a firm believer in that point and that point of view that says that we are the ones who have to chart our course, chart our destiny, chart our destiny.

We can do that better than anyone else. And part of this is, in terms of self-determination, kuji chagulia, is to tell your own story. I think that that is a crucible, absolute crucible of what we need to be doing. Very important to tell your own story.

story. No one else can tell that story but you and I've talked about that also on this podcast on a number of occasions. The absolute power you have in your own storytelling. Your story belongs to you. No one can take that from you. No one can change that story but you. You are the one who authors your destiny. You are the one who charts that destiny, charts that course, charts that course with care and consideration and

And confidence. Hopefully you have some confidence about doing that. A lot of us in the world do not have that kind of confidence. But we really have confidence.

we really dig deep all the things we need to chart the course and move forward and telling our story telling your story telling my story are critical components and crucial elements crucibles of what self-determination is kuji chagulia telling your story being

Being able to name, define, and create for yourself. Create your own story. Tell your own story. The professor, Dr. Camille Yarborough, who I had a class with many a year ago in Harlem City College there years and years ago,

once said, tell your story, and she said this on the radio, tell your story whole, free and pure. It's your story, it belongs to you. Tell that story undiluted and whole. And she really was absolutely on the money about that, Dr. Camille Yarborough. And I'm glad that she is with us. She continues to be with us, and that's a really good thing. I'm very pleased at that. And because she's been doing this for many a year now.

And so I'm delighted that she is with us. And that was a lesson from decades ago that I've never forgotten when she said that. And she said that on the radio, but she didn't say, I think she said it in one of the college classes. But that was something that I never forgot. And I've never forgotten that. I really have never forgotten that. It's a really good thing.

And we should tell our own stories, whether we write them down, whether we write them in a diary, whether we put them on audio, whether we go online, go on video and put them on social media, or whether we write a book, which is optimally what you want to do, right? If you have the discipline and the patience and the...

stick-to-itiveness and the concentration to do that and the commitment to do that, write it in a book. Write your own story. Publish it yourself. There are self-publishing places and places to self-publish online and all the rest of it. And yeah, this is the critical thing. In this day and age where things are changing and technology is really pushing a lot of things on us that I don't think we really need,

It is really good to know that you still have your autonomy. You still have the ability to tell your story, no matter who you are, no matter your background, no matter your experience or your condition. You can do this. You can do this. You can help someone. You can have someone help you tell your story. It's yours. It's your individual story. It's your life. And you have the power and the purpose and the control to do that. And so...

Self-determination is a very important characteristic. And I do think that what we put into the world, and I've talked about this before, is really important.

I had a conversation with someone recently about this. And I said that you can't worry about what other people are going to say. I also said this on social media as well. You can't worry about what other people are going to say about you, about what you write, about what you put out into the universe, about the clothes you wear and how you look. You can't worry about that. I know as a man, it's probably a whole lot easier for me to say this.

than it is for a woman to say this because, of course, the society that we live in is a very sexist society, is a very patriarchal society, and it's a very image-conscious society, particularly as it regards women. And so women have it much more difficult than I will when it comes to dealing with appearances and how you look

Because the society tells women that they've got to look a certain way. Magazine covers everywhere you go. You look in a magazine stand or wherever you go online and you see these magazine covers and you see these images of women who are very unrealistic looking as compared to 99% of the world, right? That 99% of the world does not look like this woman.

that you see on a magazine cover or in a swimsuit looks like. And so, but yet a lot of people, a lot of women across the world are trying to look like or approximate the look of someone who looks very unrealistic in the world and who makes up barely 1% of the entire planet. Most people do not look like that, but this is what the culture and the society does to women. So what I am saying is,

Is that I was having this conversation the other day and I said, you can't control how people are going to respond to you.

People are going to respond to you and think something of you no matter what you do, whether you open your mouth or whether you don't open your mouth, whether you write something or you don't write something, whether you choose to roll out of bed and put something on or whether you don't, whether you choose to wear bright clothing or whether you don't choose to wear bright clothing. People are always going to have a judgment. People are judgmental. It just happens, right? This is what, for better or for worse, and I'd say for the most part for worse, is

People are going to have a judgment. And in social media culture, in this social media fast food attention, short attention span culture, you're going to get these kinds of snap instant judgments from a lot of people. Not everyone because there are a lot of people and some people that I know who actually know

not very judgmental at all. And they're very open, which is really good. That's a great quality to have. And most of us don't have that kind of quality and that kind of insight. And that comes through a lot of different things. But my whole point is, is that what I was saying is that

People are going to have an opinion of you anyway. And the reason I say all of this is you have to chart your own course and you have to present yourself in a way that you're comfortable with. That's also an aspect in

in my view, to self-determination. You cannot try to please everyone because you just can't do that. That's just impossible to do. You have to please yourself. You have to like yourself. You have to love yourself. You have to have that confidence and belief in yourself. And of course, a lot of that has to do with how you've been raised. A lot of that has to do with your experiences in life in general. And a lot of that has to do, again, with the society and the culture that you are immersed in and that you are

living in. And so all of these things are imprinted on us. But we have to be able to determine for ourselves what we will do with the lives that we have. And the life that we have is very short. You know, I hate to break it to you. But that is how this works. You know, most of us don't live to 95 years old. You know, most of us don't live to 85 years old, you know,

Unless you have good genes and you have parents who are living into their 80s plus, you know, that's just one of those facts of life. And it depends on what country you live in, what society you're living in. Also, it depends on what your racial background is. That's a critical component. And especially if you're here in the United States, if you're black, you know, and if you're a black male, particularly, that can be a tricky situation. That's putting it mildly.

And it depends on what, again, what part of the world you're living in as well. So, you know, life is precious. Life is short. And again, self-determination. We have that power to name ourselves, to define ourselves, to, you know, create for ourselves, create our story, create ourselves.

our particular path in life. I think that's so very important. And it's not something that's insignificant. It's not something that I think should be poo-pooed in any way. It's a very, very keen perspective to have to know that

You have that choice. You have that power. It's profoundly powerful to name yourself and speak for yourself and define yourself. Never, never ever allow someone else to speak for you. I mean, unless there is a very good reason for that, whether you may be incapacitated, whether you may have a disability of some kind, in those situations, that is understandable. But what I am speaking of specifically is if you're someone who happens to have

have an able-bodied disposition and you have complete control of your functions and faculties, you really have that moment. And even if you don't have all complete control of your faculties, as I said earlier, you do have that right and that power to author your story. We've seen this so often. If you look at some of these films that have come out, some of these documentaries that have come out that started with an idea, that started with someone taking a chance to

on telling their story in the world. Maybe they started reluctantly. Maybe you, dear listener, are somebody who reluctantly started out saying, well, I don't really want to talk about this. It's very personal. It's very this. It's very that. I don't know. I'm worried about how it's going to be received. I'm worried about what the people who know me would think and what they'll think about it and da-da, da-da, da-da, and all the rest of it, right? But

Every journey begins with a step forward, with a first step. Every journey does begin with that first step. And I know it sounds cliche, but it's the truth. And every story begins with that first letter or word that you write. And the first word that you speak as part of that story that you want to dictate to someone. And so they can write it for you if you want. But you're the one who can author that story, who must author it. You have to have that particular thing.

And self-determination gives you that empowerment, that empowerment to create a story, to create your story, to tell your story, to chart your course, to decide what you're going to do today and what you're going to do tomorrow. Those are the kinds of things that I think about when I think about Kujichagulia, self-determination.

And so there, dear listener, was kuji chagulia, self-determination, the second principle of Kwanzaa. That is self-determination. And I do hope that you practice some self-determination, not just today, dear listener, but every day of the year as we do move ever so closer to a brand new year. So I do hope that you do practice

Learn more about Kwanzaa. I'll be talking about the third principle of Kwanzaa. And that, of course, will be coming up tomorrow. Gosh, tomorrow is Saturday. Does it really feel like Saturday tomorrow? But I'll be talking about the principle of Kwanzaa, which is Ujima.

collective work and responsibility. I do hope that you are having a good Friday. I do hope that it is safe, sound, and that you are spending time in this holiday season with your family or friends, people that you love and trust.

And I do hope that you are healthy and safe as we go through here, the final few days of 2024. There's a lot more to do in these final few days of this calendar year, including talk about the year that was or wasn't, and talk about the people that we lost in 2024, and also get you ready for a brand new calendar year, brand spanking new year, coming up in just a few short days from now.

You can find me on social media, of course. You know that by now. Oh, goodness me. You know that by now. On Blue Sky, popcorn, R-E-E-L dot B-Sky dot social. On Sez, S-E-Z dot U-S forward slash popcorn, R-E-E-L. And on Threads, threads.net forward slash popcorn, R-E-E-L. And Fanbase, you know that. Fanbase dot A-P-P forward slash popcorn.

Popcorn R-E-E-L. Join the fan base revolution today on social media, in social media. That's Isaac Hayes III's platform. Tremendous platform, which is going to have Twitter functionality in the next few months. I'm excited about that. I really, truly am. Invest in fan base as well while you're at it. Startengine.com forward slash fan base. And of course, you can find me on spoutable.com forward slash popcorn R-E-E-L as well as X.com

at popcorn, R-E-E-L. So look, those are your choices. And there's so many more, of course, on social media. But I do must say, and I must say, I don't spend very much time these days on social media. I have limited a lot of my time on social media, not just because I'm busy, but also, and I've always tried to balance it, but also because I think mental health-wise, it's just so much better for me not to be on social media

for more than, say, half an hour. If you're on social media for anything more, and I'm not generally anyway, even when I was on it longer than half an hour, if you're on social media for more than two hours in a day, that's really, I think, I'm no doctor here, but I really think that's very unhealthy if I may be so judgmental.

I just talked about people being judgmental earlier and listen to me. But I do think that two hours or more is way too much time. And I get it, you might be doing it intermittently throughout the day. But the less time you spend on a screen, the better unless of course, you're doing work, which you of course, like in my case, I've got no choice to do that because you're looking at screens, or you're doing other things and you're busy. And so that's what happens. And

If you're working for a social media company, then you're looking at screens as well in that sense. And so if you have to go on social media as part of your job description, then of course, that's what you have to do. But all I'm saying is that...

Outside of those scenarios that I've just painted, I think that spending time on social media for any prolonged period is rather unhealthy. I really think so. It affects your mental health. I know that I'm different when I don't spend time on social media. And I think the less of a time you spend on social media, the better you will feel and the more productive you will be as well. And the more focused you will be, the more...

I think better off your mind will be. I tell you, it's a different feel. Get out there and you can do both, obviously. Get out there and get involved in the world. Get out there and we've got a world to change. We've got things to do. We've got local things to do on the political level, on a local level that we need to start tapping into and organizing for.

And I'll talk about that, of course, as we get to 2025 as well. I've talked about it many times before. We have to get out of our silos and get out into the world. And whether that means travel for you, whether that means walking down the street for you, it means just getting out into the world and interacting and understanding and learning and studying and reading books and

going to libraries, going to bookstores, having some fun as well in the outdoors, walk around in nature if you can, if you've got that near you, if you don't have to travel too far away to get it. Go see a play, go see a concert of some kind, go watch the opera, symphony or whatever it is that you like, sporting event. You know, look, it's all out there. If you can afford it and if you can get amongst it,

And there are things that are free of charge. You can go to a museum. Some of the museums are free, depending on what city you're in. Some of those are free, depending on what day of the week it is. I know in New York they have MoMA is free on Thursday evenings or Thursday afternoons or Thursdays, period. So, you know, this is something that I think Thursdays here in San Francisco, MoMA is free as well. San Francisco MoMA is also, I think, free of charge. So look, the bottom line, dear listener, is that we...

We have to do these things. Anyway, I'm running way too long here. I'm rambling a bit, but you get the idea. Get out there and spend less time staring at screens.

And, you know, with the urge to turn on the TV, and I know it's this time of year, holiday season, you want to do that. But read a book instead. Play some music. Listen to your vinyl collection. Listen to your CDs. Stream your music. Whatever it is you do that gives you some joy other than looking, you know, instead of sitting in front of a television set and being sedentary. If you can take a walk, do that. Whatever it is for you.

Really, it's good to get out in the world and interact. It makes a big difference. And again, if you can stay off those screens long enough, I'm telling you, you will start to feel a difference in the way you feel, the way you're thinking, your whole approach, your disposition, everything. So anyway, all of that is to say,

I am also with this podcast on at least two, more than two podcasting platforms, Apple Podcasts and Spotify, among others. Of course, there's Good Pods and Amazon and all these other things. And I'll be talking about Amazon as well in the next few days as well. But the bottom line is that you can find this podcast on a number of podcasting platforms. Thank you very much for listening to this edition of The Politocrat. I'm Omar Moore.