Who celebrates Kwanza and how do you celebrate it?

NoH8

One local tv station has greeting from soldiers who can't be home for the holiday season. Most say merry xmas, happy holidays or happy hannukah. One guy wished his family a Happy Kwanza and it got me thinking.

I'd love to hear people's experiences with the celebration. How long you've been celebrating, do you celebrate it instead of xmas or in addition to and how you celebrate.

Anonymous

I celebrate Kwanzaa with my family. I also volunteer at a local Head Start program and do a Kwanzaa presentation each year. I'm not a Kwanzaa expert, per se, but my family and I have been celebrating Kwanzaa since 1998.



I'm also Christian and celebrate Christmas. Kwanzaa is not a religious celebration, but a cultural one. I personally know of no one who celebrates just Kwanzaa. Our kinara (wooden candle holder) is right next to our Christmas tree.



A brief history: Kwanzaa is an Americanized word made from the Kiswahili word "Kwanza" (notice - only one "a"), which means "first fruits of the harvest." It is celebrated after the harvest in some countries in Western Africa.



In 1966, a African-American studies educator (Dr. Maulana Karenga) first celebrated Kwanzaa as a way of unifying the community at large after the Watts riots.



Kwanzaa starts the day after Christmas and lasts for seven days through New Year's Day. Each day, a different principal is emphasized. They are: Umoja (unity), Kujichagulia (self-determination), Ujima (collective work and responsibility), Ujamaa (cooperative economics), Nia (purpose), Kuumba (creativity) and Imani (faith). In my house, we light a candle each night and discuss the principle of the day. On the sixth night, there is a gift exchange, but the gifts are only given to children and are hand-made or educational (books and games) in nature - so commercialism isn't really part of it at all. On the seventh night, there can be a feast/celebration (called a Karamu), but we haven't had one yet. We usually celebrate with family (in town for Christmas) sometime during the week, though. One of these days, I'm going to plan a karamu, but, honestly, with so much other stuff going on during this time of the year, I don't know how, lol...



Hope that helps, but you can find out more about Kwanzaa at Dr. Karanga's site: http://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/index.shtml



Harambe! ("Let's all pull together")

Anonymous

Thanks for that description, Felicia! I actually googled Kwanzaa the other day out of curiousity and was surprised at how in some ways, it's alot like 2 of the Jewish holidays (Succoth and Hannukah) combined...the kinara and the mennorah, the emphases on harvest and community, etc.

I used Kwanzaa stamps on my holiday cards this year....does that count as "celebrating"?

~Marin

NoH8

Thanks felicia, that was really informative. The soldier had me confused since he was the only one who just said Happy Kwanza. I guess atheists celebrate it as their only holiday. I know you don't speak for the entire black community, but how do african americans feel about non blacks who want to celebrate? It seems like my kind of holiday.

Anonymous

In my circle of non-immediate family and friends, I don't know anyone else who celebrates Kwanzaa. Lots of African-Americans know as much about it as you do, and many "old school" (60+) think it is some new-fangled celebration (my 88-yr-old great aunt actually called it that once) that aims to remove Christ from Christmas, which as you can see is simply not true. It took a lot of research for me to find info on it (I didn't have Internet access at home in '98) and I didn't even get a kinara until three years ago because I couldn't find one (I actually tried to make one, but it fell apart shortly after the celebration; Martha Stewart I'm not, lol). I try to live the principles - for example, last year on the second day of Kwanzaa, I had an appointment to see a plastic surgeon about the hole I had in my chest. Something about the whole day (how the appointment was made, where the office was located, etc) felt wrong, but because it was Kujichagulia - Self-Determination - I went. The visit was awful and I even got a $105 parking ticket, but it prepared me for meeting Dr. Levine who eventually did my IGAP. The purpose, however, is to try to live by the nguzo saba (seven principles) all year long.



The soldier probably said Happy Kwanzaa because no one else did, Amy. He may well celebrate Christmas or Hannukah or winter solstice or something else, too, who knows?



LOL about the Kwanzaa stamps, Marin! I buy them every year because I'm afraid if I don't, they'll stop making them...