Culture
The Celebration of Kwanzaa : What It Means
Kwanzaa is a week long celebration honoring African-American heritage and culture that is celebrated by millions across the United States.

The Celebration of Kwanzaa is a week long celebration honoring African American heritage and culture. As African American and Pan-African holiday celebrated by millions throughout the world African community, Kwanzaa brings a cultural message which speaks to the best of what it means to be African and human in the fullest sense.
Celebration of Kwanzaa
Kwanzaa celebrates what its founder called the seven principles of Kwanzaa, or Nguzo Saba (originally Nguzu Saba—the seven principles of African Heritage). These seven principles comprise a Swahili term for tradition and reason. Each of the seven days of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of the following principles, 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 stand up.
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.
Families celebrating Kwanzaa decorate their households with objects of art; colorful African cloth such as kente, especially the wearing of kaftans by women; and fresh fruits that represent African idealism. It is customary to include children in Kwanzaa ceremonies and to give respect and gratitude to ancestors.
Follow Unheard Voices on Twitter for more coverage.
Discover more from Unheard Voices Magazine
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
-
News5 days ago
George Floyd’s 11-year-old daughter says she’s being bullied in school
-
Social Justice6 days ago
Community rallies to preserve Knoxville African American cemetery and memorialize Black Veterans buried in unmarked graves
-
Black Excellence1 week ago
Teen goes viral for working at Burger King after graduation, GoFundMe raises more than $100,000
-
In Memoriam1 week ago
Brian McKnight’s son Niko dies at 32 after cancer battle
-
Black Excellence1 week ago
Teen who lived in his car graduates high school, earns full-ride college scholarship
-
Police2 weeks ago
Civil Rights coalition denounces DOJ dismissal of consent decrees and police investigations
-
In Memoriam2 weeks ago
Former US Rep. Charles Rangel of New York dies at 94
-
Culture5 days ago
2nd annual “Soul Food and Champagne Brunch” in recognition of Juneteenth to take place June 22