12/26/2020
Kwanzaa is a cultural holiday that celebrates African American community, family, and culture. It is celebrated each year for seven days, starting December 26th through January 1st.
Kwanzaa is rooted in African celebrations of harvest, and was started by Maulana Karenga, a professor in California, in 1966. Dr. Karenga wanted African Americans “to feel good about themselves and to have something that they could connect to, to make their lives better,” Dr. Linda Humes, an educator, told InsideEdition.com.
Each day of Kwanzaa emphasizes one of the SEVEN PRINCIPLES:
1. Unity:Umoja (oo–MO–jah)�To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race.
2. Self-determination: Kujichagulia (koo–gee–cha–goo–LEE–yah)�To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves.
3. Collective Work and Responsibility: Ujima (oo–GEE–mah)�To build and maintain our community together and make our brother’s and sister’s problems our problems and to solve them together.
4. Cooperative Economics: Ujamaa (oo–JAH–mah)�To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together.
5. Purpose: Nia (nee–YAH)�To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
6. Creativity: Kuumba (koo–OOM–bah)�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.
7. Faith: Imani (ee–MAH–nee)�To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.
To learn more, check out https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/kwanzaa-history
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