When I was a kid, I knew two different Santa Clauses. The first had a fat belly, rosy cheeks, a long white beard, and skin as pink as bubble gum. He was omnipresent, visiting my pre-school and the local mall, visible in all of my favorite Christmas specials.

Then there was the Santa in my family’s household, in the form of ornaments, cards, and holiday figurines. A near-carbon copy of the first one—big belly, rosy cheeks, long white beard: check, check, check. But his skin was as dark as mine.

Seeing two different Santas was bewildering. Eventually I asked my father what Santa really looked like. Was he brown, like us? Or was he really a white guy?

My father replied that Santa was every color. Whatever house he visited, jolly old St. Nicholas magically turned into the likeness of the family that lived there.

In hindsight, I see this explanation as the great Hollywood spec script it really is. (Just picture the past-their-prime actors who could share the role. Robert De Niro! Eddie Murphy! Jackie Chan! I smell a camp classic.) But at the time, I didn’t buy it. I remember feeling slightly ashamed that our black Santa wasn’t the “real thing.” Because when you’re a kid and you’re inundated with the imagery of a pale seasonal visitor—and you notice that even some black families decorate their houses with white Santas—you’re likely to accept the consensus view, despite your parents’ noble intentions.

Two decades later, America is less and less white, but a melanin-deficient Santa remains the default in commercials, mall casting calls, and movies. Isn’t it time that our image of Santa better serve all the children he delights each Christmas?

A very good question, in my opinion. As a child growing up in the Caribbean, I too questioned the cultural and ethnic identity of Santa Claus. More to that point, I always wondered why in the world did we even pit up a Christmas tree decorated with snow, when I had never seen as much as one snowflake in my life. And then, like Harris, I always wondered why Santa Claus never looked anything like me when the closest thing to “whiteness” I knew on the island, happened to be a few my great aunts who could pass for white women, thanks to my white Scottish great-grandfather.

But curiosity aside, here is what Megyn Kelly said:

So, do we really need to reinforce that narrative by adding the mythology of a Kunta Claus?

When it comes to Jesus and Santa being white, like Megyn Kelly, I thought everyone knew this to be true. Certainly if Jesus wasn’t white, there’s no way that my grandmother would have had a picture of a blond-haired blue-eyed Jesus on her wall when I was a kid. And let me tell you, my granny went to church eight days a week and three times on Sunday. So when I say my granny knew Jesus, trust me, she was practically dating the man; so, with that said I’m sure she knew he was in fact the same man in that picture on her wall and not some Palestinian-looking guy from the middle-east like religious scholar Reza Aslan claims. I’m just saying: my granny taught me a lot, and she had to learn it from somewhere; and I’m sure it wasn’t from watching FOX.

My grandmother will be 100-years-old a few days after Christmas this year. Yes, and she still lives in the Caribbean. That said, there’s no way in hell that I or any of you can convince her that Megyn Kelly, and all the Megyn Kelly’s of the world are wrong. Forget about the whitewashing of history or that through slavery and colonization religion was introduced to Africans and their descendants in the new world by men who looked exactly like my white Scottish great-grandfather. You know, the descendants of the same white men who invented Christianity for political reasons?

Yes, let’s not have that debate; yes, let’s leave that out of it and instead minimize the growing pains of people of color like this. You know, sort of like what Megyn Kelly did when she blatantly disregarded how it must feel to be black? Especially to be black and live in two worlds?

Seriously, would Santa get any love if he was black?

Look, Santa Claus is as white as Jesus Christ and he needs to stay that way. I mean, lord forbid if in our quest for post-racial bliss we start accepting the idea of a black Santa Claus and subject him to racial profiling, being shot by overzealous police officers or neighborhood watch captains. Or face the possibility of being wrongfully incarcerated like many black men in America. Not to mention the indignity of not being able to find paid work when not attempting to bring Chistmas cheer. Or even worse, having his birth certificate questioned in an attempt to undermine his legitimacy.

I could go on and on, but hopefully you get where I’m coming from on this one. Besides, if Santa was black, what reason would white folks have to visit the ghetto once a year in the spirit of love, just to be able to feel better about themselves. So yeah, why start changing now and making certain folks uncomfortable?

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I mean, people lose their freakin minds at this time of year! Forget WWE wrestling, if you wanna see some bloodshed, wake up about 3am and find a line of idiots waiting to make purchases the day after Thanksgiving. Its even better if its real cold…the colder it is, the more aggressive the consumers are. Yeah, just don’t try cutting the line in front of anybody or else you’ll be the recipient of a serious beatdown. People take this Christmas shopping thing seriously.

I’ve always had a sincere problem with people who equate price tags to happiness. Or, “If you don’t get me something nice then it must mean you don’t like me”. The biggest mistake people make during the holiday’s is assuming that everyone around them has the same level of “Give-a-Fuck” that they have. I like the holidays but I get sick of running around the mall for 5 days straight trying to find the “perfect” gift for someone.

This is why God invented Gift Cards. I don’t have to stand in a store wondering if this shirt will fit you. Or keeping up with the receipt so you can take back something I know you’re not going to like. I love gift cards. They’re all I’ll ever ask for. I don’t even care what store. Hell if you know a stripper that offers gift cards please grab me one.

Asking for a gift card only frustrates the die-hard Christmas shoppers that much more. These people are DETERMINED to force-feed the true “spirit” of Christmas down your throat by DEMANDING that you specify a gift and not a gift card. Newsflash you Shop-A-Holic Chowder Head, the true spirit of Christmas has nothing to do with $380 shoes or a wish-list. It has something to do with this dude named Jesus (ever heard of him?). Swing by church next Dec. 24th and you might learn a thing or two. He’s the one who “allegedly”started this Christmas stuff so give me my damn Gift Card and shut up! Hell, Jesus was born in a barn and had to smell goat shit and sleep on hay, but all you people are concerned with is an Xbox game system.

Personally, I think all Christians should get like a refund check from the church as a gift for Christmas. Instead of presents you’ll look forward to that check like a tax refund. I mean after all, your money went towards the work of God in the form of tithes and offerings, and your preacher drives a new Cadillac. And God DID so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son? Since he was so generous, how about a check?!! Besides, no man over 21 years old should have a “Santa Wish-List” anyway. If so, he should be beat unconscious and then revived…and then beat unconscious again. But like everything, you take the good with the bad.

As an independent thinker I see the Pro’s & Con’s of the Christmas holiday season:

Pros…

1) You get present.

2) You put up color lights on your house so your electric company can benefit.

3) Some people don’t act like dicks in the weeks leading up to and after the holiday .

4) It’s the best window of probability for someone you don’t like to kill themselves .

5) Drunk drivers who get away with it all year get caught.

Cons…

1) Pedophiles dressed as Santa get to feel children up unimpeded at the mall.

2) Gas prices usually peak around Christmas filling the coffers of those Saudi bastard.

3) More people kill themselves on Christmas than any other day in the year.

4) Christmas music on the radio 24-7 is a vicious assault.

5) Being asked what you got for Christmas – That’s as intrusive as asking your mom if she ever gave your dad head. Mind your own fuckin business!

Lastly, a message of Christmas is to be good to each other because “it’s that time of year” is fucking bullshit. You should be good to others and treat people well throughout the ENTIRE YEAR. If you’re only nice to people during the holidays because of Hallmark, then you should have been aborted.

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My favorite Christmas song (on the radio) is a classic. Come to think of it, they’re all classics. But my favorite song every year is “Feliz Navidad”. I don’t know who sings it but I know its done by a Mexican dude. A pretty nice Mexican dude I might add. Hell, he saw it fit to sing and record the song in part Spanish and part English — he was probably really trynna get a green card when he did that. For a long time I didn’t know what Feliz Navidad meant. Actually, every time I heard it, I thought he was saying…”RELEASE NAVIDAD”.

Yup, I thought it was a song about a locked up Mexican dude named Navidad. I thought it was pretty cool how the dude who sung it remembered his friend at Christmas. Not many people think about people in jail at Christmas time, so I thought this song was cool as hell. I mean, he wanted his friend released from jail for Christmas, and I’m sure everybody in jail around Christmas time wishes they were at home with their families. A few years ago at work this lady actually told me what the words of the song really meant. But, I still hold on to the idea of Navidad being released for Christmas every time I hear it.

(May 29th, 2010) Tens of thousands of activists were joined by SEIU members in a rally and march on the Captiol to call for real solutions for a broken immigration system. ~ Phoenix, AZ - Photo licensed by SEIU / © 2010 Shell Photographics

You’d think by now, since Christmas is like 2000yrs old (at least) somebody would invent some new Christmas songs. New lyrics instead of the same old stuff we hear every year. If that happened, it would make for an interesting Christmas radio season. Actually, they should do that and have like a Grammy Award category for just Christmas music. That alone should motivate a few artists out there. Hell, they’d all be dropping Christmas albums with all new material, instead of the same old bullshit.

Every year, some loser artist makes a Christmas album, and I often wonder who buys that crap (yeah Brian McKnight, what the fuck?!). I mean, duh, we already know the songs, and there’s only so many ways that they can change it up anyway! Lets be real, its not like its the Star Spangled Banner ya know. That’s the only song thats everybody knows that has a Pdiddy remix. If the Grammy’s had a Christmas category that crap would stop, and we’d have new Christmas music every year, and we’d be happy instead of irritated by the idiot in the office who walks around singing the same songs and spreading holiday cheer. However, I doubt that would ever happen. Instead, we’re stuck with life as we know it in the office with stupid, repetitive Christmas songs. I’m just glad that Santa Clause doesn’t “Superman Dat Hoe”. I’d have to kill myself if that happened.

Merry Christmas folks

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The climate in the United States in recent years has been decidedly anti-Muslim. Many Americans have the idea that Muslims are all filled with hatred for non-Muslim people. That Muslims look at Americans as “infidels” and wish only death upon them. But, through the efforts of an interfaith coalition in Detroit, Muslims have taken the opportunity to reach out to the Christian community this Christmas.
DETROIT (WXYZ) – Early Christmas morning, hundreds of Muslim-Americans turned out to help their Christian friends by doing the volunteer work that they would normally do. Muslims say this is a way to allow Christians to celebrate the Holiday by stepping in to provide meals to seniors and distributing toys to needy children.

The volunteers began the day at the Community Access Center on W. Vernor in southwest Detroit, and Saturday’s effort came out of an interfaith collaboration by the Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan and the Jewish Community Relations Council. This year since Christmas falls on the Jewish Sabbath, the need was greater than ever to have Muslim-Americans help deliver the toys and food to Detroit neighborhoods.

Many of the toys being delivered to families today were donated by the organization known as Jimmy’s Kids.(Source)
This is the type of story that people tend to overlook. No one seems to want to hear stories of people helping people, regardless of religion or race. I think the service these volunteers are performing this Christmas is a beautiful thing. I wish people would give stories like this the same type of attention they give stories of hatred and bigotry.

These Muslim volunteers are truly exhibiting the spirit of giving that seems to be forgotten in the frenzy of consumerism that Christmas has become. THIS is what Christmas is about. It is about sharing, caring and giving. And, performing good works is NOT restricted to people who have similar religious beliefs.

Many individuals call for us to “keep the Christ in Christmas”. Many are dismayed at the blatant commercialization of the holiday. I say that Christ is not what makes Christmas so great. No, instead it is the spirit of giving the holiday inspires in all of us. And the Muslims who volunteered to spend Christmas day performing charitable work for their Christian neighbors exemplify that spirit.

H/T Wood Turtle

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by JuJuBe (Joanna)

The other day I had a conversation with a friend. I told him that, unlike most people, I would NOT want to be rich. We discussed that notion, and came to the conclusion that when people say they do not want to be wealthy, what they really mean is that they do not want to be corrupt, and unfortunately, the pursuit of money often corrupts even those who started out as well intentioned.

After hearing this story about an anonymous stranger giving away money to strangers at a Goodwill store in Memphis, TN, I have come to the realization that while wealth causes some people to compromise their values, for those with a generous spirit, having a lot of money can help them bring joy to the lives of others.
MEMPHIS, TN (WMC-TV) – A stranger recently walked in to the Goodwill at Shelby Drive and Riverdale and handed out $50 bills to everyone in the store.

Chestine Dunn, an employee at the store, witnessed the giveaway spree. No one knows the name of the mystery person who handed out the cash. Dunn said the man carried a stack of envelopes with him. Inside each envelope was $50, a surprise for strangers who weren’t expecting it.

“It’s very nice of him to do that,” she said.

Betty Ridenour, who is 86-years-old, was one of the recipients of the stranger’s generosity.

“I think everybody was stunned,” she said.

Inside the envelope the stranger gave to Ridenour was a crisp, new $50 bill.

“If you know who that man was, I would like you to thank him a million times,” she said.

Witnesses said the man didn’t make any purchases at the story, and asked for nothing in return. He simply gave lucky strangers an envelope, wished them a merry Christmas, and moved on.

“He just popped in and popped out,” Dunn said.

A Goodwill spokesperson said the company doesn’t know who the man is.Source

I hope that people will hear the story of this anonymous man and be moved to do something kind for a stranger. Most of us do not have the same sort of resources this gentleman obviously does, but even those of us who are struggling can probably afford to throw a few coins in the cup of a homeless man on the street, or buy an inexpensive toy for a child who Santa Claus might be missing this year!

Although I am not a Christian, I am a lover of all things Christmas, and the generosity of spirit that comes with the season is my favorite part of it all. Merry Christmas to all!

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[Editor’s Note: Here’s a throwback post that I hope you can enjoy. Oh yeah, racism doesn’t stop because of Christmas. Hell, even racist assholes stop to recognize the birth of Jesus just like you do.]

Most of you, probably get annoyed by Christmas music on the radio, in the office, being played 24/7. Wouldn’t it totally suck if there was a Christmas music radio station that played nothing but Christmas music all year long? And wouldn’t it be really messed up if your boss was raised by elves and he kept the office radio on that station all year long? Yeah, the though that it’s not like that, is what gets me through this season at the office every year. Although I hate the music, I’m thankful that my boss wasn’t raised by an Amish guy with a weight problem who has a fetish for midgets and reindeer.

My favorite Christmas song on the radio is a classic; come to think of it, they’re all classics! But my favorite song every year is “Feliz Navidad”. I don’t know who sings it but I know its done by a Mexican dude; a pretty nice Mexican dude, I might add. He was so nice, that he saw it fit to sing and record the song in part Spanish and part English – yeah, yeah, sure some of you may think he was probably really trynna get a green card when he did that, and I understand. Now I’ll be honest, for a long time I didn’t know what Feliz Navidad meant, and actually, every time I heard it, I thought he was saying…”RELEASE NAVIDAD.”

Yup, I thought it was a song about a Hispanic dude named Navidad sitting in jail for fence jumping or some other one of the many crimes those “illegal aliens” are known to commit. I always thought it was pretty cool how the dude who sung it remembered his friend at Christmas. Not many people think about people in jail at Christmas time, so I thought it was quite noble of the guy. I mean, he wanted his friend released from jail for the holidays, and I’m sure everyone in jail around Christmas time wishes they were at home with their families.

A few years ago at work this lady actually told me what the words of the song really meant. But, I still hold on to the idea of Navidad being released for Christmas every time I hear it, because, well, nobody in this country ever thinks about the thousands of detained immigrants languishing virtually in limbo in our federal penal system awaiting deportation. Some of whom never get the chance because of death due to poor medical treatment while in custody.

You’d think by now, since Christmas is like 2000yrs old somebody would invent some new Christmas songs. New lyrics instead of the same old stuff we hear every year. If that happened, it would make for an interesting Christmas radio season. Actually, what they should do, is they should do that and have like a Grammy Award category for just Christmas music. That alone should motivate a few artists out there. Hell, they’d all be dropping Christmas albums with all new material, instead of the same old tired audio assaults on our ears.

I mean, every year some loser artist makes a Christmas album, and I often wonder who buys that crap (yeah Brian McKnight, what the fuck?!). I mean, duh, we already know the songs, and there’s only so many ways that they can change it up anyway! Lets be real folks, its not like it’s the Star Spangled Banner ya know; that’s the only song thats everybody knows that has a Pdiddy remix. But if the Grammy’s had a Christmas category that crap would stop, and we’d have new Christmas music every year.

Yes, we’d be happy instead of irritated by the idiot in the office who walks around singing the same songs and spreading holiday cheer. However, I doubt that would ever happen. Instead, we’re stuck with life as we know it in the office with stupid, repetitive Christmas songs.Speaking of which, checkout the link to this next song. It shows just how welcoming some Americans who call themselves conservatives are, of our Hispanic neighbors as they spread their holiday cheer…

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by Eco.Soul.Intellectual

Oh shit, I am in tears at this hilarious version of Lil Kim, Grace Jones, and Buju Banton. WTF! “Santa come down the chimney . . . Eat my vagina.” Does Santa eat Africana muff like its fufu and egusi soup? I thnk I have seen it all for this season.

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by Tracy Renee Jones

There won’t be no Yule Log burning on my television screen this year. Nor will there be any gift giving. Nor will there be any church services. Nor will there be any Christmas tree.

Of course in the past I willingly adhered to the practice of splurging, buying, and decorating while freezing my ass off in below zero temps and spending time with people I didn’t bother with any other time of the year and going broke in the name of Jesus Christ.

Anything less was me being a bad mother, and how could I disappoint my child when she expected to wake up to toy store bounty in celebration of Jesus’ birthday! I fought bravely on behalf of my daughter’s honor, so that she may have a Giga-Pet! My best friend earned her notches by getting into a full on scuffle at 5 a.m. with a soccer mom over a Glo Worm her son had to have lest he become an invalid or something terrible.

No, seriously, I’m pretty much over the whole Christmas as a viable celebration in my life. I’ve been getting uncomfortable glances when I’m asked about holiday festivities and I admit that I’m done with Christmas. The looks on the faces of the white suburban mothers’ I work with boarder on confusion and disgust at my comment. Some take my refusal to participate in the fiscal requirements of Christmas as my wanting to take the secular aspect of the holiday out of the religious observance. Nope, it’s not that either.

Can someone tell me what’s so great about Christmas anyway? Do people even know why they celebrate it? Aside from the mass hysteria that is called customs what’s the real meaning of Christmas?

Naivety or Nativity

During the ‘90’s an Ohio school board banned all nativity and other Christmas scenes on any school property; they felt it violated the separation of church and state. Pissed off parents challenged them in court because they WANTED their Christmas. What about the kids?! The board lost their case when the courts ruled that Christmas is a worldwide tradition and not a religious holiday. The courts ruled that mangers could stay because nativity scenes are not recognized as representation of any one religion.

Most of the Christmas tradition is repackaged Roman paganism. December 25 initially was considered to be the harvest festival of the Roman God Saturnalia (the God of sowing). In 529 A.D., the Emperor Justinian made Christmas a civic holiday. Many Egyptian pagan celebrations were held during the month of January; these holidays were moved back and become associated with Christmas. No one in the Bible mentioned a celebration in memory of Christ’s birth.

It was 300 years A.D. before the Roman church honored the celebration of Christmas, and it was not until the fifth century that it became an official festival honoring “Jesus Christ.” Biblical scholars quote verse where Jesus specifically spoke against keeping pagan holidays and boisterous traditions (Matt 15:9; Mark 7:9).

Go Jesus; It’s Your Birthday!

The book of Luke describes the events that were taking place during the season of the birth of Jesus Christ. Strangely enough, the time points to his being born during the Fall Season (see Luke 2:8 reference to shepherds still in the fields. Shepherds didn’t do this during the winter months). The festival of Saturnalia (Dec 17th) was a time for partying and gift exchanging. December 25 was the birth date of the god Mithra (the Righteous Son). January 1st was the Roman New Year; a time when Romans would adorn their houses with decorations and gifts were given to the poor and children. Fir trees, Yule cakes and gift giving are also aspects of German and Celtic harvest celebrations which were absorbed into tradition when these tribes settled in Britain and Europe.

During the Reformation those PR gurus swapped out the harvest festival celebrations and replaced it with the birth of Jesus Christ; they threw in some self serving gouging and debauchery for good measure because who doesn’t like a good party?

Old Saint Nick Shimmied in My Tight Chimney Last Night and Now I’m burning!

Everyone’s favorite old jolly man “Santa” AKA “Saint Nicholas” AKA “Old Nick” has long been recognized as a term for the devil. Revelation 2:6 and 15, reference a “doctrine of the Nicolaitanes,” which Christ twice tells His Church “[He] hates.” The word Nicolaitane means “follower of Nicholas”. The word Nikos means “conqueror, destroyer” and Laos means “people”. Nicolaitanes, then, are people who follow the conqueror or destroyer—known as the god Nimrod. Nimrod was originally a pagan fire god who came down the chimneys of the ancient people. This fire god was also responsible for infants being burned and eaten in human sacrifice among those who were once followers of God. Santa Clause comes down chimneys instead now; lucky for all of those eager little children that they will no longer be eaten.

Jesus had a Christmas tree in the Manger. Right?

The symbol of the Christmas tree is bought to us by Germany who got it from the Romans who got it from the Babylonians who got it from the Egyptians. The Babylonians had a fable that told of “an evergreen tree which sprang out of a dead tree stump”. The old stump symbolized the dead Nimrod, the new evergreen tree symbolized that Nimrod had come to life again in Tammuz. Among the Druids the oak was sacred, among the Egyptians it was the palm, and in Rome it was the fir, which was decorated with red berries during the Saturnalia. Simply put, the Christmas tree is older than Christianity and it has nothing to do with Jesus Christ.

Of all of the Christmas practices that we now maintain the only one that has been specifically mentioned in the Bible is the Christmas tree (Jeremiah 10:2-5)

“Thus says the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen…For the customs of the people are vain: for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.”

Did you see that? The Bible refers to it as “the way of the heathen” while instructing his people to “learn not the way of the heathen,” calling these customs “vain.”

So, it seems my evil atheist ass is actually onto something here. So the next time you’re caught in the midst of a full on Christmas sloth-fest just remember the Christian PR people, the pagan child eating gods and the Bible that says to not pay that shit no attention. Imagine the surprise on everyone’s face when they reach the pearly gates and come to find “celebrated Christmas” as a strike against them on that long ass list of sins. I’d be mad as hell to find out that I spent all that dam money on people I didn’t even like and now I got to pay for it for an eternity in Hell.

Now THAT’S the gift that keeps on giving…

Shout out to Black Agenda Report for the following message from Chaiman Omali:

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