Monday marked the start of Kwanzaa, the seven-night celebration honoring African American and Pan-African culture and traditions.
Kwanzaa is a cultural holiday, not a religious holiday, that can be celebrated alongside other major religious and secular holidays.
Celebrated from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1, Kwanzaa is celebrated in communities and homes around the world.
Dr. Maulana Karenga, professor and chair of the department of Africana Studies at California State University, Long Beach, created Kwanzaa in 1966 during the Black Freedom Movement.
The origins of the non-religious holiday are tied back to the first harvest celebrations in Africa, according to its official website, www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org
The Swahili phrase “matunda ya kwanza,” means “first fruits.” African culture and major religions have a deep history of celebrations around “first fruits.”
During the holiday, families and communities organize around what are known as the seven principles, or Nguzo Saba.
The seven principles
The seven principles include, umoja or unity, kujichagulia or self-determination, ujima or collective work and responsibility, ujamaa or cooperative economics, nia or purpose, kuumba or creativity, Imani or creativity and faith.
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 sisters’ problems our problems and 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 always do 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.
The seven symbols
People celebrate with feasts, also known as karamu, music, dance, poetry, narratives and gifts that are encouraged to be educational and promote African heritage.
The holiday ends with a day that is dedicated to reflection and recommitment to the Seven Principles and other core cultural values.
The seven symbols of Kwanzaa are the Kinara, a candle holder; Mishumaa Saba, seven candles; Mkeka, the mat; Mazao, crops; Muhindi, ears of corn; Kikombe Cha Umoja, a unity cup; and Zawadi, gifts.
At the beginning of the holiday, a central place in the home is chosen to spread out an African cloth on a table, then the mat, followed by the other symbols, like the candle holder, crops, corn and unity cup.
The colors
The Mishumaa Saba consists of seven candles. One black candle represents the people, or unity, and gets placed in the center of the Kinara.
The three red candles represent the people’s struggles and three more green candles symbolize the future and hope that can come from struggle.
