KWANZAA
THE FIRST FRUIT CELEBRATION
The Creation of KWANZAA (Kwahn-zah)
Celebrated December 26 to January 1st of every year
In 1966, KWANZAA was created by a young visionary living on the west coast who was also the founder and chairman of the
Black Nationalist Organization. Dr. Maulana Karenga, a trained political and cultural scientist and a participant and theoretician
of the Black Liberation Movement, postulated that significant and meaningful Black movement in the U.S. was improbable, if
not impossible, without a cultural component (base). He felt that at the base of any movement must be the cultural imperative
that give the people a clear and precise sense of "idenity, purpose and direction."
KWANZAA is derived from the Swahili word, KWANZA which means first fruits and is part of the phrase Matunda Ya. Dr Karenga
added the extra "a" to distinguish the Afro-American from the African. The idea and conceptions of KWANZAA developed
out the system of social and political thought of Kawaida (Tradition and Reason), also developed by Dr. Karenga.
The roots of KWANZAA are continental African, but the branches and fruit are distinctly Afro-American. Dr. Karenga sought
to make the natural and profound connection of Afro-American people to their ancestral beginnings, therefore, KWANZAA "as
a holiday of the first fruits" comes directly out of the traditoin of agricultural people of Africa, who celebrated and
gave thanks for harvest at designated times during the year.
Each tribe or community in Africa would come together to sing, dance, eat and drink and celebrate the harvest of the first
fruits and vegetables. The would bring food they grew or items they made to give to the feast.
Although Afro-Americans are essentially an urban people and, thus, have few crops to harvest, the concept of "ingathering
and celebration" formed a conceptual basis for KWANZAA.
The cultural dynamism of KWANZAA is best displayed through its progressive value base, the NGUZA SABA (the Seven Principles)
and its unique absence of a dependency on mystical or spookistic distortion of the world. The NGUAO SABA was created y Dr.
Karenga in 1965 and represents the "minimum set of principles by which Black people must live in order to begin to receive
and reconstruct our history and lives... they are social principles, dealing with ways for relating to others and rebuilding
lives and a more positive image."
The NGUZA SABA requires an introspective confrontation of self and society, demands political action rather than non-action
and emphasizes building than crippling destruction. The Seven Principles of the NGUZO SABA are listed below:
Suggested Reading:
KWANZAA A Progressive and Uplifting African American Holiday (ISBN 0-88378-012-7)
by Haki R. Madhubuti
The KWANZAA Coloring Book by Valerie J.R. Banks
Illustrated by Sylvia Woodard (ISBN 0-9622340-4-4)
AFRICAN AMERICAN HOLIDAY
UMOJA
(UNITY) --To Strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race.
KUJICHAGULIA
(SELF DETERMINATION) --To define ourselves, names ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves rather than
to allow others to do these things for us.
UJIMA
(COLLECTIVE WORK AND RESPONSIBILITY) --To build and maintain our community together to make our sister and brothers' problems
our problems and to solve them together.
UJAMAA
(COOPERATIVE ECONOMICS) --To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together.
NIA
(PURPOSE) --To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people
to their traditional greatness.
KUUMBA
(CREATIVITY) --To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial
than when we inherited it.
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.
Member TEESA NETWORK
Theodore Myles Publishing, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Afrocentricnews Network
Back to top
______________________________________________________________
Running a business is never easy, but building an effective web site can often make a huge difference in increasing sales,
responsiveness, and customer satisfaction.
We'll use this site to provide the background for our business and explain the goods or services we have to offer. People
don't want to spend time figuring out what a business does, so our home page will highlight the most important features of
both our business and our web site. We'll think of the home page as a kind of portal, giving customers the information they
want at a glance, and offering lots of links to draw them in to the rest of the site.
For example, we might feature a different item on the home page each month, along with a link to our products page where
you can find more information on the product.
|