The seven days of Kwanzaa begin today





By Gregory Koteles
Acorn Staff Writer

You probably speak at least one word of Swahili and didn’t even know it––Kwanzaa.


It comes from the phrase "matunda ya kwanza," meaning "first fruits" in a language little spoken outside of Africa. Although most Americans are vaguely aware that this relatively new holiday falls around Christmas, it’s little more than a word to most of America.


Since creating the holiday in 1966, Dr. Maulana Karenga, professor of black studies at California State University Long Beach, has been working to spread the message of this uniquely African-American week.


During that socially charged decade that saw the end of segregation and a swell of support for civil rights, Marenga saw a need among African-Americans to reconnect with their lost heritage. A social reform group, The Organization Us, formed the groundwork for an African-American holiday, with Marenga leading the charge.


Though Kwanzaa follows hard on the heels of Christmas, Dec. 26 through Jan. 1, it has its roots in the same ancient customs of the Christian holiday. Falling after the winter solstice, Kwanzaa is a celebration of the fall harvest. While the Christian church absorbed the dates and traditions of pagan Europe, Kwanzaa is based on the even older festivals of Africa that go back as far as ancient Egypt and Nubia and persist to this day.


Kwanzaa, as celebrated in America, is an amalgamation of customs borrowed from various African cultures and unified with a modern American spirit. It has come full circle, being celebrated now in parts of Africa, as well as the rest of the Americas and Asia.


The seven days of Kwanzaa represent its seven basic principles, called Nguzo Saba ("Seven Principles" in Swahili)—the extra "a" in Kwanzaa was added to bring the word to seven letters.


The seven principles are Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (Self-Determination), Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility), Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics), Nia (Purpose), Kuumba (Creativity) and Imani (Faith). These principles are the lynchpin of Kwanzaa and define it as the Declaration of Independence and Constitution define the Fourth of July.


Kwanzaa is celebrated with decorations and gift-giving. Ornaments of black, red and green (black for the people, red for their struggle and green for hope) aren’t uncommon, and similar to Hanukkah or Advent candles, seven candles are lit to represent the seven values. Gifts are exchanged too, but primarily for children. Gifts should include at least one book, which represents the foundations of knowledge from Egypt and other parts of Africa in antiquity and is a symbol of African heritage.


Greetings in Swahili are also traditional. The greeting is "Habari gani?" to which the answer is one of the principles corresponding to that particular day, "Umoja" on the first day, "Kujichagulia" on the second, and so on.


The last day of Kwanzaa is the first day of the New Year, and following African tradition, is a time for meditation and sober reflection on self and life. Celebrants ask themselves the three "Kawaida" questions: Who am I? Am I really who I say I am? Am I all I ought to be?


Though Kwanzaa isn’t intended to be an alternative to Christmas, many African Americans have turned to it as such to escape the rampant commercialization that surrounds the Christian holiday. Kwanzaa, in fact, is completely secular, being a cultural rather than religious holiday, and it can be celebrated by those of any creed or faith (or lack thereof).


As Marenga himself puts it, "What Kwanzaa offers is not an alternative to their religion or faith but a common ground of African culture which they all share and cherish."


Though the celebration of Kwanzaa isn’t likely to eclipse Christmas or Hanukkah in the United States anytime soon, its growing popularity is a testament to the need of people to be grounded in tradition and find their own place in the melting pot of society.



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