Celebrating Kwanzaa

By Anastacia Mott Austin

Habari gani?

That would be, "What's the news?" in Swahili, the language used during the celebration of Kwanzaa.

Kwanzaa is celebrated during the seven days between December 26th and January 1st.

Swahili was chosen as the language of Kwanzaa to reflect African-American's commitment to honoring the whole of Africa, rather than any one country within the continent. Swahili is the most commonly used African language.

Started in 1966 by founder Maulana Karenga, the Kwanzaa holiday was designed to give African Americans an opportunity to celebrate their own African roots, traditions, and history, "rather than simply imitate the practice of the dominant society."

Kwanzaa takes its roots from the phrase "matunda ya kwanzaa," which means "first fruits" in Swahili. The first fruits, or first harvest ritual dates back many years in African culture.

Founder Karenga explains on the official Kwanzaa website (http://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org) that the philosophy of the seven principles of Kwanzaa are based on the values of Kawaida, which is "a communitarian African philosophy which is an ongoing synthesis of the best of African thought and practice in constant exchange with the world."

The seven principles of Kwanzaa, reflected in its seven-day celebration and the seven-candle kinara which is at the center of the ritual table, are as follows:

• Umoja (unity), to strive for and to maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race;
• Kujichagulia (self-determination) to define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves;
• Ujima (collective work and responsibility), to build and maintain our community together and make our brothers' and sisters' 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 we inherited it;
• Imani (faith), to believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

The greeting, "Habari gani?" is asked each day to remind people of the seven principles, as on each of the seven days the name of one of the seven principles is given.

The colors of Kwanzaa are black, red, and green. Black represents the people, red their struggle, and green their hope for the future.

During a Kwanzaa ritual, the symbols of the holiday, including a representation of crops and corn, the seven-candle kinara, a mat, a unity cup, and gifts are placed on a table or other central location. The black candle, in the center of the kinara, is lit on the first day, and the other candles on each successive day, in order of their color (to represent that the people come first, then the struggle, then the hope for the future). A drink or libation is poured into the unity cup in homage to the ancestors, and the cup is then sometimes passed around to the participants.

The gifts are varied, and usually given to any children present, but can be shared among the group. Two gifts must always be given: a book, representing learning, and a symbol of African heritage, to stress the importance of a shared African history.

The final day of Kwanzaa, aptly falling on January 1st, is a day for meditation and quiet reflection.