Here are the seven principles of Kwanzaa in both Swahili and English translation:
Nguzo Saba — The Seven Principles
- Umoja (Unity) — To strive for and 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 brother’s and sister’s 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.
For those who celebrate Kwanzaa, it’s a way to honor their culture and heritage.
But it’s also a way for black Americans to focus on unity in their families and their communities.
"History is what we stand on," said Francina Williams, director of the George Washington Carver Interpretive Museum in Dothan. "If you don’t understand your history, you become wanderous."
Kwanzaa is a seven-day celebration that begins Dec. 26 and ends Jan. 1. The holiday celebrates seven principles — unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.
The American-created holiday was created by Maulana Karenga, a California professor of black studies, author and activist. It was first celebrated in 1966 during the struggle for civil rights by black Americans and following the Watts riot in Los Angeles. Celebrants view Kwanzaa as a cultural holiday rather than a religious one, according The Official Kwanzaa Web site at www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org.
Williams said it’s intended to be celebrated among families, but also receives emphasis at the community level.
"You have to do it at the community level for the individuals to understand," Williams said.
Borrowing from African harvest celebrations and traditions, Kwanzaa takes its name from the phrase "matunda ya kwanza," which means "first fruits" in Swahili — a language mainly spoken in east and central Africa. Kwanzaa incorporates symbols to represent different cultural values. A kinara holds seven candles — one black, three red and three green. Each day a candle is lit to represent the seven principles of Kwanzaa.
Williams said the principles of Kwanzaa emphasize the importance of family and culture. Even in Africa, she said, a harvest didn’t happen without the community pulling together. With black Americans being alienated from this culture, Williams said the principles of Kwanzaa become more important for black families.
"We assume children understand how they ought to relate to each other," Williams said. "It gives parents something beyond ourselves to draw from."
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