Kwanzaa is a festival
observed by many African Americans from 26 December to 1 January as a
celebration of their cultural heritage and traditional values.
The name Kwanzaa is
derived from the phrase “matunda ya kwanza” which means “first fruits” in
Swahili. Each family celebrates Kwanzaa in its own way. Celebrations often include songs and dances,
African drums, storytelling, poetry reading, and a large traditional meal.
On each of the seven
nights, the family gathers and a child lights one of the candles on the Kinara.
The Kinora has
seven prongs just as the Hebrew Manorah that celebrates the Feast Of Lights
known as Chanukah.
Each night at the
lighting of the candles, one of the seven principles are discussed. The
principles, called the Nguzo Saba (seven principles in Swahili) are values of
African culture which contribute to building and reinforcing community among
Africans home and abroad.
Kwanzaa was created by dr. Maulana Karenga and was first celebrated
in 1966. Maulana Karenga was the
professor and chairman of Black Studies at California State University, Long
Beach. After the Watts riots in Los Angeles, Dr. Karenga searched for ways to
bring African-Americans together as a community. He founded US, a cultural
organization, and started to research African/Hebrew “first fruit” (harvest)
celebrations. Karenga combined aspects of several different harvest
celebrations, such as those of the Ashanti (Region of Ghana) and those of the
Zulu, to form the basis of Kwanzaa.
Kwanzaa’s mission is to promote the following economic core values and to promote African culture, beliefs and ways of life of the Ancestors that have been lost or not recorded in Western and European histories:
Core ValuesKwanzaa’s mission is to promote the following economic core values and to promote African culture, beliefs and ways of life of the Ancestors that have been lost or not recorded in Western and European histories:
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.
Cooperative Economics: Ujamaa (oo–JAH–mah)
To build and maintain
our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together.
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.
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.
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 the Restoration of our people.
Seven
Symbols
The seven symbols are
representative of the Restoration of A royal nation of peoples and their spirituality that was devalued and
taken away through those countries who infiltrated the African Continent
forcing Africans into the Translantic Slave Trade through religion,
colonization and slavery.
The seven principles,
or Nguzo Saba are a set of ideals created by Dr. Maulana Karenga. Each day of
Kwanzaa emphasizes a different principle.
Mazao, the crops (fruits, nuts,
and vegetables)
Symbolizes work and
the basis of the holiday. It represents the historical foundation for Kwanzaa,
the gathering of the people that is patterned after African harvest festivals
in which joy, sharing, unity, and thanksgiving are the fruits of collective
planning and work. Since the family is the basic social and economic center of
every civilization, the celebration bonded family members, reaffirming their
commitment and responsibility to each other. In Africa the family may have
included several generations of two or more nuclear families, as well as
distant relatives. Ancient Africans didn’t care how large the family was, but
there was only one leader – the oldest male of the strongest group. For this
reason, an entire village may have been composed of one family. The family was
a limb of a tribe that shared common customs, cultural traditions, and
political unity and were supposedly descended from common ancestors. The tribe lived by traditions that provided continuity
and identity. Tribal laws often determined the value system, laws, and customs
encompassing birth, adolescence, marriage, parenthood, maturity, and death.
Through personal sacrifice and hard work, the farmers sowed seeds that brought
forth new plant life to feed the people and other animals of the earth. To
demonstrate their mazao, celebrants of Kwanzaa place nuts, fruit, and
vegetables, representing work, on the mkeka.
Mkeka: Place Mat
The mkeka, made from straw or cloth, comes
directly from Africa and expresses history, culture, and tradition. It
symbolizes the historical and traditional foundation for us to stand on and
build our lives because today stands on our yesterdays, just as the other
symbols stand on the mkeka. In 1965, James Baldwin wrote: “For history is not
merely something to be read. And it does not refer merely, or even principally,
to the past. On the contrary, the great force of history comes from the facts
that we carry it within us, are consciously controlled by it in many ways, and
history is literally present in all that we do. It could scarcely be otherwise,
since it is to history that we owe our frames of reference, our identities, and
our aspirations.” During Kwanzaa, we study, recall, and reflect on our history
and the role we are to play as a legacy to the future. Ancient societies made
mats from straw, the dried seams of grains, sowed and reaped collectively. The
weavers took the stalks and created household baskets and mats. Today, we buy
mkeka that are made from Kente cloth, African mud cloth, and other textiles
from various areas of the African continent. The mishumaa saba, the vibunzi,
the mazao, the zawadi, the kikombe cha umoja, and the kinara are placed
directly on the mkeka.
Vibunzi: Ear of Corn
The stalk of corn
represents fertility and symbolizes that through the reproduction of children,
the future hopes of the family are brought to life. One ear is called vibunzi,
and two or more ears are called mihindi. Each ear symbolizes a child in the
family, and thus one ear is placed on the mkeka for each child in the family.
If there are no children in the home, two ears are still set on the mkeka
because each person is responsible for the children of the community. During
Kwanzaa, we take the love and nurturance that was heaped on us as children and
selflessly return it to all children, especially the helpless, homeless, loveless
ones in our community. Thus, the Nigerian proverb “It takes a whole village to
raise a child” is realized in this symbol (vibunzi), since raising a child in
Africa was a community affair, involving the tribal village, as well as the
family. Good habits of respect for self and others, discipline, positive
thinking, expectations, compassion, empathy, charity, and self-direction are
learned in childhood from parents, from peers, and from experiences. Children
are essential to Kwanzaa, for they are the future, the seed bearers that will
carry cultural values and practices into the next generation. For this reason,
children were cared for communally and individually within a tribal village.
The biological family was ultimately responsible for raising its own children,
but every person in the village was responsible for the safety and welfare of
all the children.
Mishumaa Saba: The Seven Candles
Candles are
ceremonial objects with two primary purposes: to re-create symbolically the
sun’s power and to provide light. The celebration of fire through candle
burning is not limited to one particular group or country; it occurs
everywhere. Mishumaa saba are the seven candles: three red, three green, and
one black. The back candle symbolizes Umoja (unity), the basis of success, and
is lit on December 26. The three green candles, representing Nia, Ujima, and
Imani, are placed to the right of the Umoja candle, while the three red
candles, representing Kujichagulia, Ujamaa, and Kuumba, are placed to the left
of it. During Kwanzaa, on candle, representing one principle, is lit each day.
Then the other candles are relit to give off more light and vision. The number
of candles burning also indicate the principle that is being celebrated. The
illuminating fire of the candles is a basic element of the universe, and every
celebration and festival includes fire in some form. Fire’s mystique, like the
sun, is irresistible and can destroy or create with its mesmerizing,
frightening, mystifying power.
Mishumaa saba’s
symbolic colors are from the red, black, and green flag (bendara) created by
Marcus Garvey. The colors also represent African gods. Red is the color of
Shango, the Yoruba god of fire, thunder, and lightning, who lives in the clouds
and sends down his thunderbolt whenever he is angry or offended. It also
represents the struggle for self-determination and freedom by people of color.
Black is the people, the earth, the source of life, representing hope,
creativity, and faith and denoting messages and the opening and closing of
doors. Green represents the earth that sustains our lives and provides hope,
divination, employment, and the fruits of the harvest.
Kinara: The Candleholder
The kinara is the
center of the Kwanzaa setting and represents the original stalk from which we
came: our ancestry. The kinara can be shape – straight lines, semicircles, or
spirals – as long as the seven candles are separate and distinct, like a
candelabra. Kinaras are made from all kinds of materials, and many celebrants
create their own from fallen branches, wood, or other natural materials. The
kinara symbolizes the ancestors, who were once earth bound; understand the
problems of human life; and are willing to protect their progeny from danger,
evil, and mistakes. In African festivals the ancestors are remembered and
honored. The mishumaa saba are placed in the kinara.
Kikombe Cha Umoja: The Unity Cup
The kikombe cha umoja
is a special cup that is used to perform the libation (tambiko) ritual during
the Karamu feast on the sixth day of Kwanzaa. In many African societies
libation are poured for the living dead whose souls stay with the earth they
tilled. The Ibo of Nigeria believe that to drink the last portion of a libation
is to invite the wrath of the spirits and the ancestors; consequently, the last
part of the libation belongs to the ancestors. During the Karamu feast, the
kikombe cha umoja is passed to family member and guests, who drink from it to promote
unity. Then, the eldest person present pours the libation (tambiko), usually
water, juice, or wine, in the direction of the four winds – north, south, east,
and west – to honor the ancestors. The eldest asks the gods and ancestors to
share in the festivities and, in return, to bless all the people who are not at
the gathering. After asking for this blessing, the elder pours the libation on
the ground and the group says “Amen.” Large Kwanzaa gatherings may operate just
as communion services in most churches, for which it is common for celebrants
to have individual cups and to drink the libation together as a sign of unity.
Several families may have a cup that is specifically for the ancestors, and
everyone else has his or her own. The last few ounces of the libation are
poured into the cup of the host or hostess, who sips it and then hands it to
the oldest person in the group, who asks for the blessing.
Zawadi:Gifts
When we celebrate
Imani on the seventh day of Kwanzaa, we give meaningful zawadi (gifts) to
encourage growth, self-determination, achievement, and success. We exchange the
gifts with members of our immediate family, especially the children, to promote
or reward accomplishments and commitments kept, as well as with our guests.
Handmade gifts are encouraged to promote self-determination, purpose, and
creativity and to avoid the chaos of shopping and conspicuous consumption
during the December holiday season. A family may spend the year making kinaras
or may create cards, dolls, or mkekas to give to their guests. Accepting a gift
implies a moral obligation to fulfill the promise of the gift; it obliges the
recipient to follow the training of the host. The gift cements social
relationships, allowing the receiver to share the duties and the rights of a
family member. Accepting a gift makes the receiver part of the family and
promotes Umoja.
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