WHAT IS KWANZAA?

What Is Kwanzaa?
From Encarta Africana

Kwanzaa is a seven-day holiday that begins on Dec. 26 and continues through Jan. 1. The name of the holiday comes from the Swahili words matunda ya kwanza, which mean "first fruits." The holiday's roots are in harvest celebrations that are recorded from the earliest periods of African history. These celebrations bear various names that reflect the languages of the societies that have celebrated them as well as those that still celebrate them, including Pert-en-Min in ancient Egypt, Umkhosi in Zululand, Incwala in Swaziland, Odwira in Ashantiland, and Odu Ijesu in Yorubaland.

Kwanzaa was created in 1966 in the United States by Maulana Karenga, an activist/scholar who is currently professor and chair of the Department of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach. Rooted in ancient African history and culture, Kwanzaa was developed in the modern context of African American life and struggle as a reconstructed and expanded African tradition. It emerged during the Black Freedom Movement of the 1960s and thus reflects the movement's concern for self-determination, a "return to the source," and the reaffirmation of African identity and culture. Moreover, Kwanzaa is founded and framed in Kawaida philosophy, which stresses cultural grounding, value orientation, and an ongoing dialogue with African culture—both continental and diasporan—in pursuit of paradigms of human excellence and human possibility.

First celebrated by members and friends of the Organization Us (meaning us African people), which Karenga chairs, Kwanzaa is currently celebrated by an estimated 26 million people on every continent in the world.As explained in Karenga's 'Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community, and Culture,' Kwanzaa is organized around five fundamental kinds of activities that originate from ancient African harvest or first-fruit celebrations.

These activities are (1) the ingathering of the people to reinforce the bonds between them, especially the bonds of family, community, and culture; (2) special reverence for the Creator and creation in gratitude for the bountifulness and goodness of the earth and in commitment to preserve and protect it; (3) commemoration of the past, to fulfill the obligation to remember and honor ancestors and to teach and reaffirm the mission and meaning of African history; (4) recommitment to the highest African cultural values — ethical and spiritual values that bring forth the best of what it means to be African and human; and (5) celebration of the good of life — that is, the good of family, community, and culture; of relationships; of old age and youth; of knowledge and sharing; of work and wonder; and of all things of benefit and blessing.

At the heart of the meaning and activities of Kwanzaa are the Nguzo Saba (the seven principles), which Karenga developed to reaffirm and strengthen family, community, and culture. These principles are umoja (unity), kujichagulia (self-determination), ujima (collective work and responsibility), ujamaa (cooperative economics), nia (purpose), kuumba (creativity), and imani (faith). Each day of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of the principles and is organized around activities and discussion to emphasize that principle.

At each evening meal during Kwanzaa, family members light one of seven candles to focus on the principles in a ritual called "lifting up the light that lasts." This lifting-up means upholding the Nguzo Saba and all the other life-affirming and enduring principles that reaffirm the good of life, enrich human relations, and support human flourishing. In addition to the mishumaa saba (seven candles), the other basic symbols of Kwanzaa are the mazao (crops), symbolic of African harvest celebrations and of the rewards of productive and collective labor; the mkeka (mat), symbolic of tradition and history and therefore the foundation on which to build; the kinara (candleholder), symbolic of ancestral roots and the parent people, or continental Africans; muhindi (corn), symbolic of children and the future of African people that they embody; the kikombe cha umoja (unity cup), symbolic of the foundational principle and practice of unity that makes all else possible; and zawadi (gifts), symbolic of the labor and love of parents and of the commitments made and kept by children.

There are also two supplemental symbols: a representation of the Nguzo Saba and the bendera (flag), which contains the colors black, red, and green. These colors are symbolic, respectively, of African people, their struggle, and the promise and future that come from their struggle. A central and culminating event of the holiday is the gathering of the community on Dec. 31 for an African karamu (feast). The karamu features libation and other ceremonies that honor ancestors, narratives, poetry, music, dance, and other performances to celebrate the goodness of life, relationships, and cultural grounding.

Kwanzaa ends Jan. 1 with the Siku ya Taamuli (Day of Meditation), which is dedicated to sober self-assessment and recommitment to the Nguzo Saba and all other African values that reaffirm commitment to the dignity and rights of the human person, the well-being of family and community, the integrity and value of the environment, and the reciprocal solidarity and common interests of humanity. One way that persons conduct this self-assessment is to ask themselves three questions: Who am I? Am I really who I am? Am I all I ought to be? In this way, they measure themselves in the mirror of the best of African culture and history and recommit themselves to standards and practices of human excellence that reflect and support those cultural ideals.

Contributed by Dr. Maulana Ndabezitha Karenga

THE FOUNDER
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Dr. Maulana Karenga Creator of KwanzaaChair, The Organization UsChair,

The National Association of Kawaida Organizations (NAKO)

Dr. Maulana Karenga created Kwanzaa in 1966.
Courtesy of The HistoryMakers

Related Links:
Official Kwanzaa Web Site
Kwanzaa: An African-American Celebration
Kwanzaa Information Center
Everything About Kwanzaa

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Kwanzaa for Kids

Share the glories of this African-American holiday at home with your children
Rich in cultural and historical information about people of African descent, Kwanzaa is a perfect tradition to share with children.

Created in 1966 by Maulana Karenga, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Black Studies at California State University at Long Beach, it’s a celebration that brings African-Americans together, acknowledges our talents and achievements, and reveres the Creator. The holiday, observed from December 26 through January 1, reinforces basic values--the Seven Principles, termed Nguzo Saba in Swahili--that support the African-American community.

Kwanzaa continues to gain recognition, with more than 15 million people worldwide now celebrating it. To me, Kwanzaa is how you live, how you make a commitment to your Black culture," says Eric Copage, author of Kwanzaa: An African-American Celebration of Culture and Cooking (Quill; $15). "I got involved with Kwanzaa because of my son. I was looking for a way to instill in him a positive sense of his African-American heritage."

Andrea Davis Pinkney, author of the children’s book Seven Candles for Kwanzaa (Dial; $15.99), has a number of tips for parents who want to share Kwanzaa with their children. While not every tip is tied to a specific Principle, they all celebrate the spirit of the holiday.

* Savor important family moments. Pinkney recalls, "One year we made a memory quilt. We designate one person as the maker of the quilt, and each person brings fabric from something that’s important to her. Each person’s piece of fabric is incorporated into the quilt. Our quilt contains a piece of my daughter’s christening gown and a piece of the sweater I wore when I went into labor with my daughter."

* Pay homage to our loved ones. Pinkney suggests, "We’ve done an ancestral circle where we get together as a family, light a candle, and form a circle around it." Pinkney explains how this works: "When the spirit moves you to speak, call out the name of someone who has passed on, and say something nice about them." This ritual is especially suitable for older children.
* Preserve the traditions of Kwanzaa. There are many tools used to celebrate Kwanzaa, and children can help make them. Pinkney suggests, "Kids can use construction paper to make the traditional Kwanzaa mats that are used for holding fruit and corn."

* Teach your child the importance of community support. "My family has made an ’Ujamaa box,’ " says Pinkney. (Ujamaa, Swahili for Cooperative Economics, is the Fourth Principle: "to build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and profit from them together.") "We help the children find and cut out pictures of Black icons--everyone from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to Oprah--and paste them on the box. Throughout the year, we all put money in the box, and during the holiday season, we use the money to make a purchase at a Black-owned business in the community." Pinkney adds, "This year we plan to donate the money to charity."

* Celebrate with music. Many types of music are an integral part of African-American culture. Pinkney shares her family’s way of celebrating our rich musical tradition: "Throughout the year, we encourage the kids to collect songs that they like. Each child chooses a spiritual, we help them get the words, and we put all the songs together to make a hymnal. Then we get together as a family and sing the songs."

* Encourage and express creativity and talent. Pinkney suggests, "Let the kids put on a little show; they can perform a puppet show with finger puppets that they make." (The Sixth Principle--Kuumba, or Creativity--encourages us "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.")

* Share family memories. Remembering the past is a crucial part of celebrating Kwanzaa.

--Tonya Adams is the channel producer of Feel at Home

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THE FEAST

Find everything you need to prepare for your Kwanzaa feast.
Crafts
Recipes
Decorating Ideas
Shopping
Kwanzaa Recipe Watch
Greens With Smoked Turkey, Apples and Walnuts
3 tbsp walnuts, pieces
2 tbsp sugar
8 cups red leaf lettuce, torn into small pieces
Read Entire Recipe
More on BV’s Cooking Board

All articles courtesy of www.aol.com black voices

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Submitted by: Shelle'