Rev. Dr. Johnny Ray Youngblood
Pastor Mentor - St. Paul Community Baptist Church , Brooklyn NY
Senior Pastor - Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church , Brooklyn NY

February is here again.  February is 28 days of grace that when capitalized on properly can yield nourishment to wounded souls.  February can be a good and great time in the life of the nation.  I am in no way restricting anything to this shortest month of the year, but I am saying that February is a public cow that is milked for all it’s worth.  And led by African Americans, the nation’s vital signs would make all more hopeful.  For those of us who have an affinity for the number seven, February contains four opportunities to commence and complete.  February should be the month for focus.  Family, faith, finance, health, community, learning and fasting could become our intentional focus.  Maulana Karenga offers us an excellent roadmap as to how to do February better.  It is called Kwanzaa.  I am well acquainted with the fact that most of us attempt Kwanzaa in December, but I think February is more fertile ground for this pregnant possibility.  February eliminates the idea of competition with Christmas. It needs to be recognized that the African American commitment to the religion of Jesus is a given.  Anything that hints of competition will be denied. 

Kwanzaa is a ritual that the church could use to do a more holistic ministry to our constituents and the totality of human kind.  In no way does it have to leave out Jesus.  In fact, Kwanzaa can be ‘the wedding at Cana ’ where water is turned to wine in the well, not just the water pots.  This to me means no running out.  As a Christian, I call for a holy collaboration of church and culture in the declaring of February Kwanzaa season.  If it’s not too late to do something this month, there’s always next year. Don’t knock it until you try it.  I’ve tried it at St. Paul Community, it can work.  Think of it, February and Kwanzaa - the holy hook up between our hope and our history. 

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