Introduction
“Kwanzaa is a time for ingathering of African Americans for celebration of their heritage and their achievements, reverence for the Creator and creation, commemoration of the past, recommitment to cultural ideals and celebration of good.”
—Maulana Karenga
In 1966, Dr. Maulana Karenga, a Black cultural nationalist and Africana Studies Professor, created the December holiday, Kwanzaa. The annual cultural event encourages African Americans and other celebrants to reflect and commit to the African values or philosophy of Kawaida, a synthesis of pan-African values. Kwanzaa is annually celebrated from December 26 to January 1. Dr. Karenga used Swahili terms to evoke ideals through practices drawn from traditional African harvest festivals. Kwanzaa built on seven principles (Nguzo Saba), over seven days: Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (Self-Determination), Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility), Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics), Nia (Purpose), Kuumba (Creativity), Imani (Faith).
Definition (DEI language of Identity)
Black & African-American – Black refers to African diaspora people, including those in the Americas, the Caribbean, and Europe. African-American refers to Americans of African descent. Some prefer one term over the other.
Black Nationalism - An ideological movement calling for unity and political self-determination for black people, especially in the form of a separate black nation.
Black Cultural Nationalism - An approach to Black Nationalism that emphasizes African/African American culture as the grounds for unity, rather than an emphasis on political nationhood.
Cultural Appropriation - Taking and benefiting from the expression, ideas, artifacts, etc. of another culture without permission, often done by the dominant culture. This is not cultural exchange, which requires mutual consent and respect.
Family - a group of people with one or more parents and children, or a people with common ancestors.
Minoritized/ Marginalized – When underrepresented groups are made to feel “less than.”
Multiculturalism Movement - a cultural and social movement beginning in the 1980s grounded in the view that cultures, races, and ethnicities, particularly those of minority groups, deserve special acknowledgment of their differences within a dominant political culture.
History of Kwanzaa
1960s Black Nationalist Movement and Maulena Karenga
Maulena Karenga was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement in California. Black Nationalism was supported more strongly in California than much of the United States. As a student he helped spearhead the intellectual pursuit of black cultural studies and wrote a dissertation on Black Nationalism. As a Graduate Student in 1966, in the wake of the Watts riots, Karenga’s Civil Rights activism turned toward Black nationalist solutions to the decimated Black community. He worked with others in Los Angeles to found a black activist organization and magazine called “Us.” This group coalesced around a Black Nationalist alternative to the Black Power movement of SNCC, the Black Panthers and Malcolm X. They believed that culture, rather than power, had the ability to strengthen Black Americans. To rebuild from the generations of oppression, Dr. Karenga believed that the Black community needed to be strengthened from within, to build its moral commonality, and strengthen its bonds with each other.
Kwanzaa was the tangible outcome of this endeavor. By creating a holiday, an annual cultural event, Kwanzaa invited people to reflect about their commitment to personal and communal values. The first Kwanzaa was in 1966.
From this, he was one of the architects of the Afrocentric cultural movement. He and others like Molefi Asante, sought to connect Black Americans to their African past through cultural and economic community building. Karenga wrote one of the first textbooks that brought together the history of Africa with the experiences of the African diaspora, including Black Americans. He received a second doctorate in social ethics in 1994 where he developed an Afrocentric philosophical system drawn from a variety of West African cultures. Kwanzaa was a part of this holistic effort to embody and affirm the Black community and African culture.
Popularity of Kwanzaa
Since the first Kwanzaa in 1966, adherents to Black cultural nationalism have celebrated the day in their homes and community centers. However, by the 1990s, the multiculturalism movement heightened Americans’ awareness of Kwanzaa, and it began to be more widely recognized, particularly in the black community. In 1992, Hallmark sold its first Kwanzaa card. Then in 1997, the US Postal Service recognized Kwanzaa with a stamp. A book by Karenga describing Kwanzaa to the general public accompanied the introduction of the stamp.
Celebration
Each day of Kwanzaa is centered around the family and one of the seven values. In celebrating Kwanzaa the family may be the traditional biological family or a broader communal family, the definition that sees family as those who share common ancestors, like the whole Black community.
- A meal with conversation about the value. For example, over dinner on Nia(Purpose) night, the family will discuss how to live a life of purpose to consider one’s legacy as a part of their social responsibility to strengthen their community.
- Each evening, the family performs athe pouring of the tambiko (libation), accompanied with a libation statement of praise and commitment.
- The family will also bear witness to the ancestors and call out and name their ancestors, including departed family members or heroes/heroines.
- The events will be accompanied with the harambee, a hand gesture that represents the unifying of the community.
- The daily ritual will end with the lighting of the Mishumaa (candles). The person lighting the candles, often children, will discuss and explain the day’s value
Special days of Kwanzaa are:
- The first day, Ujima Day, tends to bring in a broad group, and leaders highlight issues of national significance.
- On day six, December 31, is a large feast that is shared with others in the Black community.
- On the last day, January 1, everyone is expected to meditate on the Nguzo Saba, maintain a calm day, and affirm or commit to living into the principles. Children are given meaningful, often handmade, zawadi, or gifts, on this day.
Decorations or Symbolic Items are displayed to remember important elements of the culture.
- Mazao, the crops, fruits and vegetables representing the harvest are displayed.
- Mkeka, the mat, the foundation for the display of the items.
- Kinara, the candle holder, represents the parents and ancestors who supported the community.
- Muhindi, the corn, represents the children and future, so one ear of corn per child is included in the display
- Mishumaa saba, the seven candles, are inserted into the kinara. A center black candle stands for communal unity, the first lit, then red and green alternating candles stand on either side of the black candle, each exemplify one of the principles.
- Kikombe cha umoja, the unity cup, reinforces the community and is used for the tambiko (libation).
- Zawadi, gifts, often homemade, are given to children. The gifts should have significant meaning, including a book and an item symbolizing their heritage.
Can non-African Americans celebrate Kwanzaa?
Yes, but as a celebration created by African Americans for people of the African diaspora, it must be done sensitively. In the home, non-African Americans can celebrate as they wish, in appreciation of the universal values espoused by the holiday. There should be sensitivity toward not embodying African traditions as their own, appropriating Black culture. If attending a public event, the central features of the event should be conducted by African Americans whenever possible. On the official Kwanzaa website it notes, “Audience attendance is one thing; conducting a ritual is another.”
Resources and Photos
Asante, Molefi Kete. Maulana Karenga An Intellectual Portrait. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 2013.
Brown, Scot, and Clayborne Carson. Fighting for US: Maulana Karenga, the US Organization, and Black Cultural Nationalism. New York: New York University Press, 2005.
Karenga, Maulana. Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community, and Culture. Los Angeles University of Sankore Press, 1998.
Karenga, Maulana. “Kwanzaa” https://www.maulanakarenga.org/kwanzaa
Karenga, Maulana. https://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/faq.html
Karenga, Maulana. Introduction to Black Studies, 4th Edition. Los Angeles: University of Sankore Press 2010.
Mayes, Keith A. Kwanzaa: Black Power and the Making of the African-American Holiday Tradition. 2009.