Kwanzaa is a week-long African-American celebration from December 26th to January 1st that honors African heritage, focusing on seven principles (Nguzo Saba) like unity, self-determination, and collective work, and often involves candle lighting, feasts, gift-giving, and storytelling.
Kwanzaa: A Celebration of African Heritage
Kwanzaa is a week-long cultural celebration that honors African heritage and values. It takes place each year from December 26th to January 1st. The name “Kwanzaa” comes from the Swahili phrase “matunda ya kwanza,” which means “first fruits of the harvest.”
The Origins of Kwanzaa
Kwanzaa was created in 1966 by Maulana Karenga, an African-American professor and activist. Karenga wanted to create a holiday that would help people to reconnect with their cultural roots. Kwanzaa is based on harvest celebrations from various African cultures.
The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa
Kwanzaa is based on seven principles called Nguzo Saba. These principles are:
- Umoja (Unity): Striving for and maintaining unity in the family, community, nation, and race.
- Kujichagulia (Self-Determination): Defining ourselves, naming ourselves, creating for ourselves, and speaking for ourselves.
- Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility): Building and maintaining our community together and making our brothers’ and sisters’ problems our problems and solving them together.
- Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics): Building and maintaining our own stores, shops, and businesses and employing our people and buying black.
- Nia (Purpose): Making our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
- Kuumba (Creativity): Doing always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
- Imani (Faith): Believing in our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.
How Kwanzaa is Celebrated
Kwanzaa celebrations often include the lighting of seven candles on a kinara, a special candleholder. Each candle represents one of the Nguzo Saba. Other Kwanzaa traditions include the sharing of a feast, the exchange of gifts, and the reading of stories about African history and culture.
Kwanzaa is a relatively new holiday, but it has become increasingly popular in recent years. It is a time for people of African descent to celebrate their heritage and to strengthen their community ties.