Habari Gani? Imani!
Today is the seventh and final day of Kwanzaa and the start of the new year!
Today, on the seventh day of Kwanzaa, we celebrate Imani (Faith) which is to believe with all our hearts in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, & the righteousness & victory of our struggle. Today’s reflection on Imani comes from our Education Coordinator, Marinne Nolen.
We have all faced adversities and yet here we are standing in unity with our family and friends on this final day of Kwanzaa. We can build upon our experiences to know we will be victorious in our future endeavors. Imani reaffirms our self-worth and the confidence that we can triumph over struggle and move into unity.
As a mother of four, it is essential for my children to see my faith in action and know that anything is possible. In my new role as the Education Coordinator, I will be leading a resource program in the City of Compton called Strong African American Families starting in January 2024. This program is designed to build up the strength of Black families by promoting positive family interactions, learning strategies to overcome adversities and teaching young people goal-setting skills to reach their full potential.
If you are a family unit with youth ages 12-15 and are interested in learning more ways to affirm your family and connect your faith to achieve your family goals, please see our flyer below and complete this form to sign-up. You can also email education@parentingforliberation.org for more information.
If you’re not in the Compton area, this Imani is an opportunity to connect to how our Imani or Faith guides our everyday.
This Imani, we invite you to reflect on the following:
- What is the source of my faith?
- How is my faith reflected in my actions?
- How has my faith allowed me to build steps to reach my goals?
Activity:
- Create a card or scrapbook for your family member or for a loved one.
- Staple four pieces of craft paper—red, green, and black if available—together along one side to create a book. Decorate using markers, crayons, printer paper, or whatever you have on hand at home. Include motivation excerpts, scriptures, images or photos of goals or representations of faith.
- Using a glue stick, add the photos to the paper to create a scrapbook. You may add decoration to the cover and around the photographs.
You can make this a yearly tradition to do with your family and add pages to your book or put into a frame to be gifted!