Kwanzaa is a 7-day festival celebrating african culture, history and heritage.
(Picture: Askar Abayev, Pexels)As the winter months progress, many communities across the globe are getting ready to celebrate their cultural holidays.
While some put their tree up for Christmas and get their menorah ready for Hanukkah, others are getting ready to observe the vibrant holiday of Kwanzaa.
Kwanzaa is a week-long celebration involving communities coming together, honouring their heritage and making memories.
Here is a comprehensive look at what Kwanzaa is, when it takes place and how it’s celebrated.
What is Kwanzaa?
Kwanzaa is an annual seven-day celebration of African-American culture that was created by activist Maulana Karenga back in 1966 based on various African harvest traditions.
The holiday’s creation happened after the Watts riots, which took place after a 21-year-old African-American man was pulled over for drunken driving, resisted arrest and was physically assaulted by a police officer.
Karenga wanted to create a holiday that would give Black people the opportunity to celebrate their culture, community and history.
The name Kwanzaa came from the Swahili phrase “matunda ya kwanza”, meaning “first fruits”.
Southern African nations already hosted first fruits festivals in December and January, so there was a strong cultural history behind the name.
Karenga originally thought of the day as an alternative to Christmas, but he later changed his stance on this and said Kwanzaa wasn’t a replacement for the Christian special occasion.
After its creation in California, Kwanzaa became a widely accepted holiday over the years.
And, while it was created in the US, many people with African heritage celebrate it across the globe today.
The day is based on seven principles of African heritage, which were developed the year before Kwanzaa itself, in 1965.
The seven principles are all Swahili words and share a common philosophy. Each of the seven days of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of the principles.
These are:
- Umoja (unity): To strive for and maintain unity in the family and community
- Kujichagulia (Self-determination): To define, name, create and speak for yourself and the community
- Ujima (Collective work and responsibility): To build and maintain the community together, make the community’s problems yours, and resolve them together
- Ujamaa (Cooperative economics): To build and maintain stores, shops and other businesses and profit from them together
- Nia (Purpose): To adopt the building and developing of the community the collective purpose to restore the community to its traditional greatness
- Kuumba (Creativity): To always do as much as you can, in the way you can, to leave the community more beautiful and beneficial than before
- Imani (Faith): To believe in your people, your parents, your teachers, your leaders, and the righteousness and victory of the community’s struggle
When is Kwanzaa 2022?
Annual Kwanzaa celebrations are held between December 26 and January 1.
How is Kwanzaa celebrated?
Kwanzaa sees families decorate their households with colourful African art and cloths, wear traditional African attire, and have fresh fruits placed around to symbolise the celebration of the first fruits. Music is also often a big part of the celebrations.
It is customary for the young people in the community to be involved in Kwanzaa ceremonies and give respect and gratitude to their ancestors.
Traditional symbols of the celebrations include a Kinara, which is a candleholder with seven candlesticks, a unity cup called Kikombe cha Umoja, and gifts referred to as Zawadi.
On the sixth day of the annual festival, a communal feast called Karamu is held.
