Overview of Kwanzaa Traditions
Kwanzaa is a week-long celebration of African-American and Pan-African culture and heritage, observed from December 26 to January 1. It differs from traditional festivals like Christmas and Hanukkah in that it is not a religious celebration. The name is derived from the swahili phrase 'matunda ya kwanza' which means 'first fruits', referring to the harvest of the first crops.
This festival, rich in symbolism and traditions was the inspiration of Professor Maulana Karenga, a professor of Pan-African studies and a cultural leader. He started the observance of this festival on December 26, 1966. The aim of this festival is to reinforce a sense of rootedness among African-Americans and Africans worldwide in the traditions of their heritage and the preservation of their unique culture.
Kwanzaa is a time to reaffirm one’s belief and efforts towards following the seven guiding principles, also established by the creator of this tradition. These are referred to as the ‘Nguzo Saba’, meaning ‘the seven principles’. These are:
Umoja: This means unity, and is meant to strive for and preserve unity and togetherness in the family, community, nation, and race.
Kujichagulia: This means self-determination, towards defining ourselves, creating for ourselves, and speaking for ourselves, as a community.
Ujima: This refers to collective work and responsibility. It emphasizes the importance of looking beyond oneself and one’s family towards working for the betterment of the community by working together with our brothers and sisters towards making their problems our own and solving them together.
Ujamaa: This refers to the notion of co-operative economics, which encourages us to build our own stores, shops, and other businesses and profit from them as a community.
Nia: This refers to purpose. It reminds us to direct our efforts towards building and developing our community to restore our people to their traditional greatness and also restore the values of our heritage.
Kuumba: This refers to creativity. It urges us to always contribute as much as we can in any way we see fit, to leave our community richer and more beautiful than when we inherited it.
Imani: It refers to faith, to believe with complete sincerity in our people, in our parents, teachers and leaders, and in the righteousness and victory of our struggle.
In the act of observing these seven principles, families observing closely the traditions of this festival pay attention to arranging the seven symbols suggested in the course of the rituals that dominate the seven-day period. These are:
The Mazao: This symbolizes the traditional African notion of bounty, crops, and can include fruits, nuts, and vegetables. It represents the fruits of the work that resulted in this plentiful harvest that is celebrated in this thanksgiving. Families place the various items of their mazao on a mkeka, a traditional place mat that is another Kwanzee symbol. The mazao also symbolizes the historical gathering of Africans to celebrate the harvest festival to collectively celebrate their joy, sharing, unity and thanksgiving, which are considered as the fruits of their labors as much as the harvest itself.
The Mkeka: This is a traditional Africal place mat constructed of straw or cloth. It represents the foundations of African history, traditions, and heritage, on which Kwanzaa celebrants stand and build their lives. When families gather together, they remember their traditions and history, and contemplate their future.
The Vibunzi: This is an ear of corn. Where a whole stalk of corn represents children as the hope of the future, this single ear of corn represents each individual child and his/her importance. Thus, one vibunzi is placed on the mkeka for each child in the family. This also reminds the family of the African cultural notion of children being raised by the community as a whole, and reminds one of the significance of the Nigerian proverb, ‘It takes a whole village to raise a child’.
The Mishuma Sabaa: These are the seven candles symbolizing the power of the sun and the light it gives us. This traditionally consists of one black candle, representing unity, three red candles placed to its left, symbolizing self-determination, co-operative economics, and creativity, respectively, and three green candles to the right, symbolizing purpose, collective work, responsibility and faith. The black candle representing unity is lit on December 26, the first day of the festival.
The Kinara: This refers to the candleholder, the center of the Kwanzaa decorations, and symbolizes our unified heritage, our ancestors, from whom we’ve all descended. This decoration can be made in any shape, using varied materials, and serves to remember and honor our ancestors, who are our common roots.
The Kikombe Cha Umoja: This is a special decoration called the unity cup. During the feast that is traditionally held on the sixth day, this cup is passed from member to member among family and guests, and each drink from it to symbolize unity. Once this is done, the eldest person in the group pours the ‘tambiko’, an offering of water, wine, or juice, in the direction of the four winds in the act of honouring ancestors.
The Zawadi: This represents the gifts that are exchanged on the last day of the festival. The speciality of this observance that is similar to other holiday traditions is that the gifts are encouraged to be meaningful and symbolize self-determination, purpose and effort to avoid the patina of commercialism that becomes evident during any holiday season. So these gifts are encouraged to be handmade and be meaningful to the symbols of Kwanzaa. The intent is to solidify and enhance relationships.
In sum, Kwanzaa is a beautiful African-American and Pan-African celebration that symbolizes the embracing of the rich history, traditions, and ideals of African culture and heritage.
