The Kwanzaa Collection: The Kwanzaa Pants Fight
Our Kwanzaa celebration continues with the story of the first Kwanzaa-themed mixed martial arts competition.
This Kwanzaa, we’re sharing the complete collection of stories about the greatest holiday since Juneteenth. This post was originally published on Dec. 30, 2017.
I don’t know why people dislike fights.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with equally matched competitors mutually agreeing to a physical altercation. In my hometown, fighting wasn’t just a rite of passage; it was a legitimate way to solve disputes. Where I’m from, one didn’t have to be mad or angry to engage in fisticuffs. You could simply invite someone for a friendly fight to settle any impasse. Sometimes, the best way to handle a situation is to fight.
There are a lot of things about the Kwanzaa pants story I still don’t know.
I also don’t know why my youngest sister, Comelita, loved Christmas, but she always has. Even though we never celebrated Christmas, her goal in life was to grow up, move to Charleston, S.C., and live in a home plastered with Christmas lights. She was very specific. She also accomplished her goal.
I also don’t know why all of my sisters hated Kwanzaa, but I suspect it had something to do with the Kwanzaa dresses. Every year, my mother would sew matching Kwanzaa dresses for my sisters. They weren’t any uglier than any other dresses my mother made. In fact, they were quite cute. Maybe it was just the fact that the dresses were frilly and matching that irked them.
Or maybe it was the fact that, as the only boy, I didn’t have to wear any homemade Kwanzaa attire. I wasn’t even burdened with any kente cloth requirements. I was free to wear whatever I wanted to the Young & Young Funeral Home Kwanzaa get-downs.
I also didn’t know why I didn’t see the Kwanzaa pants coming.
