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The proximity to Christmas and the fact that gifts are bestowed have led some people to think of Kwanzaa as a Yule alternative, but increasingly, black families observe both. As the black holiday spirit spreads, however, so do problems of creeping commercialism. One black-owned publishing company already markets 21 styles of Kwanzaa cards and a 32-page activity book for children. Future products include a Kwanzaa kit, complete with a kinara and instructions for novice celebrators.
Some parents even purchase bicycles and Nintendo sets for Kwanzaa gifts; they rationalize the excess by buying from black-owned businesses. That, they say, is in the spirit of ujamaa, or cooperative economics. "This is the U.S., and if anything becomes successful, it almost automatically becomes commercial," says Copage. "Doing otherwise is like trying to surf without getting wet."
What next? Cedric McClester, author of Kwanzaa: Everything You Always Wanted to Know but Didn't Know Where to Ask, has created Nia Umoja, "an African answer to Santa Claus." The character, who is supposed to represent an African griot, or wise man, wears a Nehru-style suit and joins hands with youngsters to ask what they have learned about Kwanzaa. Says McClester: "Kwanzaa needed a character because we need to attract younger people and their parents."
Traditionalists disapprove of these developments but say they are a natural part of the evolution of holiday celebrations. "These things are going to happen, just as they have with Christmas, Chinese New Year and Hanukkah," says Tulivu Jadi, an official at the African American Cultural Center in Los Angeles. "But there is still a community -- and not a small one -- that observes the serious intent of the holiday." This year the center is collecting food and clothing for the homeless, another way to spread the true joys of Kwanzaa.