Sister Days: Umoja (Unity)

In 1966, Maulana Ron Karenga, then a University of California PhD candidate in political science, used philosophical concepts rooted in African civilization over thousands of years to celebrate and inspire contemporary African American life. He called his creation Kwanzaa, derived from the Swahili term kwanza, which means “first fruits.”  Each of seven days. December 26 through January 1, he dedicated to one of seven principles, the Nguzo Saba.  On this first day of Kwanzaa we harvest those “first fruits” that loosed the shackles of bondage.  In the spirit of Umoja, “unity,” we dedicate ourselves “to strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race”: to act as one, single-minded in service to our freedom.

On December 26, 1776, the American colonies were at war for independence under Gen. George Washington, a slaveholder who would become the first president of the new republic.  When troops captured one thousand British Loyalists in a dawn raid on that day, among the African American soldiers was Robert Shurtleff, a Massa-chusetts free woman!  For eighteen months, Deborah Sampson had fought in disguise.  How did she do it―and why?  “Bound out” after her father’s untimely death, she worked and attended school part-time.  Tall and often assigned “men’s work,” she decided to live as a man.  Taking advantage of the revolutionary fervor of the time, she spent twelve dollars to make herself a suit and enlisted in the army.  When she was wounded, her doctor did not betray her secret.  Having sacrificed much for freedom―everyone’s, Black and White―she was discharged with honor and a pension.  With publication of her biography in the 1790s, she stepped onstage at Boston’s Federal Street Theatre and later toured New England in a lecture adaptation of her exploits.  An “extraordinary instance of female heroism,” her tombstone reads: “Deborah Sampson Gannett, Robert Shurtleff, The Female Soldier: 1781-1783.”

-Dr. Janus Adams.

In partnership with SwagHer Magazine, Dr. Janus Adams, Emmy award-winning journalist and historian presents SISTER DAYS Inspiring Moments in African American Women’s History.

During Kwanzaa, Adams will share seven days of uplifting meditations on courage, daring, and resistance that bring us valuable reminders of how real women in real times– from the Daughters of Africa to Mary Johnston to the first African American  diva to perform at the Metropolitan Opera Marian Anderson – created a better way of life for themselves and a better world for others. In reading their stories, we ensure that these women live on–as shining beacons to light our own quests for happier, more fulfilled lives.