KWANZAA

Kwanzaa celebrates and reaffirms the values important to African Americans. Created by Dr. Maulana Karenga, in 1966, the week-long event is based on seven principles (as established by Dr. Karenga):

Umoja(Unity): To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race.

Kujichagulia(Self Determination): To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves.

Ujima(Collective Work and Responsibility): To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers’ and our sisters’ problems our problems and to solve them together.

Ujamaa(Cooperative Economics): To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together.

Nia(Purpose): To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.

Kuumba(Creativity): To do 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): To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

Beginning December 26th each year, the celebration is most notably symbolized by seven candles and the colors black, for the people; red for their struggles and green for the future. The candles are placed in a Kinara (candle holder), with one black candle centered between three red candles to the left and three green candles to the right.

On the first day of Kwanzaa the black candle is lit and the rest of the candles are lit during the remaining days, from left to right, symbolizing that people must come first, then the struggle and finally the hope for a better future that comes from the struggle.

Each of the seven principles represents the core values to improve and preserve the African American community. Celebrators are encouraged to use creativity instead of commercialism to convey the message of the Nguzo Saba (Seven Principles) in order to make home, community and the world a better place for all.


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