HAPPY KWANZAA! TO OUR AFRICAN BRETHREN IN THE DIASPORA
Kwanzaa is a time of learning, family and celebration.
During the week of Kwanzaa, from 26 December to 1 January, families and communities come together to share a feast, to honor the ancestors, affirm the bonds between them, and to celebrate African and African American culture.
Kwanzaa is not a religion. Perhaps, one of its most significant features is that it facilitates unity amongst all Africans in the diaspora regardless of their religion. Kwanzaa may be celebrated by any African, especially those in the diaspora, of any religion, or of no religion.
The name Kwanzaa derives from the Swahili phrase “matunda ya kwanza”, meaning “first fruits”. First fruits festivals exist in Southern Africa and are celebrated in December/January with the southern solstice. The Kwanzaa celebration was partly inspired by the Zulu festival “Umkhosi Wokweshwama” (First fruits festival) or “Umkhosi Woselwa” (the Calabash festival).
Kwanzaa celebrates what its founder, Maulana Karenga, called the seven principles of Kwanzaa, or “Nguzo Saba” (originally “Nguzu Saba” – the seven principles of African Heritage). They were developed in 1965, a year before Kwanzaa itself. These seven principles are all Swahili words and together comprise the “Kawaida” or “common” philosophy, a synthesis of African nationalism, pan-Africanism and socialist values.
Each of the seven days of Kwanzaa is dedicated t
