The Editor, Sir:

In 1966, Californian Pan-Africanist Ron Karengo created Kwanzaa, a seven-day festival that begins each December 26, as a celebration of African-American traditions and values as distinct from the largely Eurocentric, Christianity-promoted celebration of Christmas.

Christmas is a time when most people of this majority black nation live out a lie. Many engage in a ritual of wanton spending buying gifts for their children, telling these impressionable young that Santa Claus, a snow-white, dumpy man, flies across the world and places the gifts under the Christmas tree.

But the biggest lie is that Jesus Christ, the Messiah, who is the reason for the season, was born on December 25. Theologians know that the real Christ was not born at that time of the year.

People come under immense pressure at this time of year to pixie (what is a pixie?), to spend excessively, do all manner of things to pass on European traditions, and just be caught up in the crass commercialism of the Yuletide season. No wonder that the suicide rate at this period of love and goodwill is highest in Christian nations. Robbery and murder move up at this time too. How many of us will be murdered during this month of "Peace on Earth, goodwill to all men"?

Christmas traditions

Celebrating Kwanzaa far outweighs the commercialism and traditions of Christmas and is a better answer to our many seething problems as a nation.

Largely Afrocentric and non-religious, the principles represented in the Kwanzaa celebrations are unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith, much of what we desire as a nation of proud, black people.

I am, etc.,

CLAUDE WILSON

jaclaudew@yahoo.com