The embarrassing question...What is Kwanzaa?

            Every year around the Christmas and New Year holidays we see this term "Kwanzaa" in our calendars. The embarrassing thing is a lot of us never asked or thought to research what exactly Kwanzaa is. Even worst then that is that many of us were not taught about Kwanzaa in public grade school institutions. So when we hear Kwanzaa we just ignore the term as if we already know what it means instead of feeling embarrassed to ask, "What is Kwanzaa"? Here's the deal...I'll ask for you.

What is Kwanzaa?

Unlike Christmas, Ramadan, or Hanukkah, Kwanzaa is not affiliated with Religion. It was originated in 1966 by Ron Karenga aiming to install racial pride and unity into the black community. It allows African Americans to reconnect with their roots and recognize their struggles as people by building up this community.

Kwanzaa starts the day after Christmas (December 26) to New Years (January 1) annually. Created from the Swahili term, "malinda ya kwanzaa" (meaning first fruits), Kwanzaa is based off of African harvest celebrations.

According to the official Kwanzaa website, "Kwanzaa was created out of the philosophy of Kawaida, which is a cultural nationalist philosophy that argues that the key challenge in black people's lives is the challenge of culture, and that what Africans must do is to discover and bring forth the best of their culture, both ancient and current, and use it as a foundation in being models of human excellence and possibilities to enrich and expand our lives".

Celebrating Kwanzaa

Celebrating roots, culture, and pride for seven days, Kwanzaa has seven principles known as the Nguzo Saba. They are umoja (unity), kujichagulia (self- determination), ujima (collective work and responsibility), ujamaa (cooperative economics), via (purpose), kuumba (creativity), and imani (faith).

Click here to find out the exact way to celebrate Kwanzaa.

Black people and Kwanzaa

Although Kwanzaa was created for African Americans, the National Retail Foundation found that only 13 percent of African Americans celebrate this holiday. Some decide to avoid it because of religious beliefs (not knowing that it is not connected to religion), some avoid it because of the history of the founder (click here to find out why), some avoid it simply because like me, a African American female, I just never was taught in school or at home what it was, simply because my family was not educated on it and the school systems probably prevented it from being taught (unless you had a Black teacher who was educated on it).  Check out the video clip below.

Non-Blacks Celebrate Kwanzaa

Just as people of different backgrounds celebrate Cinco de Mayo and many other cultural celebrations there are non-blacks who celebrate Kwanzaa. The official Kwanzaa website says that the principles of Kwanzaa has a universal message.

As a celebration that is made to uplift the black community I believe that educating others on such a holiday that is hidden of its true meaning and aim is important in todays society were blacks are losing hope and faith.






I was just like you and those many others in the video. Illiterate to what Kwanzaa is. Now that I know and I've told you hopefully the knowledge is spread on and communities will come together to uplift each other.

See also: Holiday Celebrations for Multicultural Families