By the light of our heritage

Why celebrating Kwanzaa affirms the power of Blackness, unity, and reverence for those who came before us.

Kwanzaa is a non-religious and non-commercial holiday created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, a professor and activist. 

It is a celebration of African heritage, unity, and cultural identity — providing a meaningful opportunity for African-Americans and others to connect with their roots and express pride in their ancestry. 

Kwanzaa is observed from December 26 to January 1. It consists of seven days, with each day dedicated to one of the seven core principles known as the Nguzo Saba. 

Celebrating Kwanzaa involves various rituals and customs that revolve around the lighting of seven candles — one for each day of the holiday. Each candle represents one of the Nguzo Saba principles, which are: 

1. Umoja (Unity): To strive for and maintain unity in family, community and nation. 

2. Kujichagulia (Self-Determination): To define and name ourselves as well as create and speak for ourselves. 

3. Ujima (Collective work and Responsibility): To build and maintain our community together, making our brothers and sisters problems our problems and solving them together. 

4. Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics): To build and maintain our stores and shops and other businesses and to profit from them together. 

5. Nia (Purpose): To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community to restore our people to their traditional greatness. 

6. Kuumba (Creativity): To always do as much as we can, in the way that we can, to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it. 

7. Imani (Faith): To believe with all our hearts in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.