EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was originally published on December 20, 2023
Seven days, many ways to celebrate Kwanzaa this month for Howard University’s Scot Brown, associate professor of history and author of “Fighting for US: Maulana Karenga, The US Organization and Black Cultural Nationalism,” a book about Kwanzaa’s founder, Dr. Karenga.
“There isn’t a rulebook, but there are rules,” said Brown. “Symbols mean what they mean, but you might have different activities for people to participate in [ranging from] poetry [to] music [to] communal dancing. There’s all kinds of things that build on the improvisational character of Afrikan American and Afrikan world cultures.”
Huberta Jackson-Lowman, Florida A&M University (FAMU) professor emerita of psychology, said observing Kwanzaa involves a year-long reflection and brings families to the same room.
“It’s a time [when] we come together, to remember [and] to celebrate the good that we have done and are doing in our community,” said Jackson-Lowman. “And we participate in rituals around the seven principles that are associated with Kwanzaa over the seven-day period [beginning] on December 26 and [concluding] on January 1.”
The retired educator broke down the seven principles of Kwanzaa.
Umoja: “The first day, December 26, focuses on the principle of Umoja, which is unity, and paying homage to bringing our family and our community together.”
Kujichagulia: “Second day, we celebrate Kujichagulia and that is defined as self-determination, which means that we want to encourage our people to define themselves, to not be defined by others, to name themselves, to speak for themselves, and to create for themselves.”
Ujima: “On the third day, we celebrate with Ujima and that means ‘collective work and responsibility’…focusing on the idea that we should share our problems, the problems of our brothers and sisters, and help each other to solve them.”
Ujamaa: “On day four, we celebrate Ujamaa, which is cooperative economics, and here we’re talking about supporting our businesses, creating businesses, and building ourselves up at the economic level.”
Nia: “On day five, we focus on Nia and that means purpose, and we remind ourselves of our traditional greatness and what it is that we see as the contributions that we have made as people of Afrikan ancestry.”
Kuumba: “Then on day six, which is December 31…we’re celebrating Kuumba, which is creativity, and creativity in all of its forms, and what it suggests here is that whatever we do, we should leave our community better than the way we found it.”
Imani: “The final day is January 1—New Year’s Day—and that day we’re celebrating Imani, which means faith; faith in ourselves and our ancestors and our elders and their guidance toward us.”
Brown said these principles come center stage when he’s back home celebrating Kwanzaa.
“When I am around family members, we [light] the candle together, commemorate the principles, and [think] about the deep things around [the seven principles of Kwanzaa],” he said.
Given Kwanzaa’s deep pan-Afrikan customs, it’s easy to forget the holiday’s relatively young age and largely American observance. After all, the 1966 founding is a year after Chris Rock and Martin Lawrence were born. Jackson-Lowman pushed back on narratives attempting to delegitimize the holiday due to its recency.
“Sometimes people say, well, Kwanzaa is a made-up holiday and to that, I would just suggest that people appreciate the fact that we create those things that we need for our healing for upliftment,” said Jackson-Lowman. “We made many holidays—Fourth of July, that was made by this country…we have to take the initiative as people of Afrikan ancestry to create the things that we need to help us to move forward in terms of manifesting our highest potential, facilitating our liberation as people of Afrikan ancestry.
“Because we still are dealing with being oppressed and marginalized as a group of people, Kwanzaa is one of those celebrations, one of those rituals, that can enable us to build community and help us begin to deal with the challenges that we face on a day-to-day basis with the anti-Black racism that is still very much enforced through this country.”
Brown expressed excitement about Kwanzaa’s global future, thanks to modern technology.
“There’s an energy around having exchange and shared inspirations, so that grows and continues to grow,” he said. “And right now, we’re in this beautiful moment where even our physical distance from one another across the Afrikan world doesn’t stop us from being able to share and celebrate together, so I’m seeing Kwanzaa celebrations that are done on Zoom.
“We’re at a point now [where] the future is extremely ripe with possibilities, because new technologies are making us closer and closer to one another, and the traditional barriers to collaboration and cooperation are slowly coming down.”
Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member who writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.