The Fifth Day of Kwanzaa; Nia - Purpose 
As told to Sheldon Scruggs, Times Herald-Record December 30, 2006 Purpose or Nia (nee-yah) encourages us to look within ourselves and set personal goals that are beneficial to the community. A purpose-driven life is demonstrated by Charles Smith, executive chef at Sullivan County Community College.
No one gave me a purpose for living. I found it on my own. When I was growing up in Manhattan, it was just me, my mother, Lorraine, and my little brother, Brandon. My mom had to work from early morning to late evening, so it was up to me to wake, dress and feed my brother. Then I took him to school. I picked him up after school. I fed him dinner and helped him with his homework. For a long time, I was both a big brother and a parent.
When I was 12, my godfather, James, showed me how to make a tuna salad in the shape of a salmon. I think it was then that I fell in love with the art of cooking.
As I got older, I started getting into trouble at school and with the law. I realized that I wasn't setting a good example for my brother, so I made up my mind that, for his sake and mine, I was going to do things correctly and stay out of trouble. I attended Park West High School (for cooking, in Manhattan), and then I went to the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park.
Now I am 27 years old, and I've made decisions that have affected my brother's life and mine. I've worked in a few restaurants, even at the Ritz-Carlton in Florida. But I came back to New York to be close to Brandon. He's a freshman in high school this year, and he still looks up to me. Brandon knows that it's important to have goals in life because he has watched me accomplish mine.
I also mentor young men in several programs I'm involved with, including Gentlemen of the Journey. There, a boy can learn what it means to be a gentleman in a world that is seriously lacking young men with good manners, style and those well-versed in the social graces. On my job, I supervise a staff of 20 people who prepare healthy and nutritious meals for up to 600 people on any given day. My next goal is to operate my own bed and breakfast hotel one day.
For me, living a life that has Nia, or purpose, is to be a part of a community that believes that it takes a "village" to raise a child. I was once that child. Now, I am part of the village.
Kwanzaa is an African-American celebration encompassing family values, community responsibility, financial growth and self-improvement. Seven guiding principles form the basis of Kwanzaa; one of which is observed each day. The Swahili name for each principle is used when implementing the rituals of observance.
Each day of Kwanzaa, the Times Herald-Record will profile one individual who exemplifies that day's principle, and that person will define how that principle is a part of his or her life. | | 
(Review the teachings of W. E. B. DuBois.) The fifth Kwanzaa principle is Nia (Purpose), “to make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community, in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness”. Nia is based on the premise that in order to restore African American people to their former greatness, they must have a commitment to collective vocation building, and the developing and defending of their national community. Inherent in the principle of Nia is the tracing of civilization’s origins to Africa. As father and mother of humanity, Africans believe they are held as custodians and heirs of a great legacy. Custodians guard,preserve, expand and promote their cultural heritage. Heirs infer that individuals must respect the importance of being entrusted with a great legacy. The greatness of Nia lies in allowing and encouraging one to strive to be the best one can be while promoting cultural awareness within the community. Promoting cultural awareness in the community maximizes the Principle of
Nia. Nia Scripture And the Lord said, See, they are all one people and have all one language; and this is only the start of what they may do: and now it will not be possible to keep them from any purpose of theirs. Genesis 11:6 Nia Activity By: Dr Arthur N Lewin Is this all there is to life? A cycle of hot and cold, light and dark, and throughout, the frantic, desperate paper chase for dollars and credentials, and the things they bring? Or is there more? Can we make it more? Can we? Read Complete Nia Article on blackwebportal Nia Songs Help us improve! Email us your suggestions! sounds@soulofchristmas.com |