History
The Beginning
Kwanzaa is an African-American and Pan-African holiday celebrating African values, culture, and history. Kwanzaa, coming from the Swahili term 'Matunda ya kwanza' meaning "first fruit of the harvest", was created in 1966; the leaders of Kwanzaa sought to uplift the African-American people by reaffirming African culture and principles, such as the 'Nguzo Saba', the 7 principles of Kwanzaa.
In Practice
There are 7 days of Kwanzaa, each represented by a different principle: unity (Umoja), self-determination (Kujichagulia), collective work and responsibility (Ujima), cooperative economics (Ujamaa), purpose (Nia), creativity (Kuumba), and faith (Imani). For each day of Kwanzaa, the family comes together to light one of the 7 candles of the kinara and discuss the principle of the day. Kwanzaa lasts from December 26th until January 1st with a community feast called 'karamu' held on the 6th day, December 31st.
Celebration!!!
Families celebrate by adorning their homes with colorful art, fruits, and African fabric. Some women wear the 'kaftan', a colorful African garment, and gifts are often given similar to Christmas and Hannukah.
The gift must contain a book and a heritage symbol to emphasize the importance of knowledge as well as heritage.
During the celebration a specialized mat called the 'mkeka' is used to hold important items that symbolize the holiday such as: corn (muhindi), seven candles in special colors that have specific meaning (mishumaa saba), a candle holder (kinara), and a unity cup (kikombe cha umoja) used for showing thanks.
Kwanzaa celebrations are colorful and rich with culture, food, African drum and dancing and good energy.