Each day of Kwanzaa emphasizes a different principle. Unity:Umoja oo—MO—jah To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race. Self-determination: Kujichagulia koo—gee—cha—goo—LEE—yah To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves.
Cooperative Economics: Ujamaa oo—JAH—mah To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together. Purpose: Nia nee—YAH To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
Creativity: Kuumba koo—OOM—bah 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. Faith: Imani ee—MAH—nee To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle. Mazao, the crops fruits, nuts, and vegetables Symbolizes work and the basis of the holiday. It represents the historical foundation for Kwanzaa, the gathering of the people that is patterned after African harvest festivals in which joy, sharing, unity, and thanksgiving are the fruits of collective planning and work.
Since the family is the basic social and economic center of every civilization, the celebration bonded family members, reaffirming their commitment and responsibility to each other. In Africa the family may have included several generations of two or more nuclear families, as well as distant relatives. For this reason, an entire village may have been composed of one family.
The family was a limb of a tribe that shared common customs, cultural traditions, and political unity and were supposedly descended from common ancestors.
The tribe lived by traditions that provided continuity and identity. Tribal laws often determined the value system, laws, and customs encompassing birth, adolescence, marriage, parenthood, maturity, and death. Through personal sacrifice and hard work, the farmers sowed seeds that brought forth new plant life to feed the people and other animals of the earth. To demonstrate their mazao, celebrants of Kwanzaa place nuts, fruit, and vegetables, representing work, on the mkeka.
Mkeka: Place Mat The mkeka, made from straw or cloth, comes directly from Africa and expresses history, culture, and tradition. It symbolizes the historical and traditional foundation for us to stand on and build our lives because today stands on our yesterdays, just as the other symbols stand on the mkeka. And it does not refer merely, or even principally, to the past. On the contrary, the great force of history comes from the facts that we carry it within us, are consciously controlled by it in many ways, and history is literally present in all that we do.
It could scarcely be otherwise, since it is to history that we owe our frames of reference, our identities, and our aspirations. Ancient societies made mats from straw, the dried seams of grains, sowed and reaped collectively. The weavers took the stalks and created household baskets and mats. Today, we buy mkeka that are made from Kente cloth, African mud cloth, and other textiles from various areas of the African continent. The mishumaa saba, the vibunzi, the mazao, the zawadi, the kikombe cha umoja, and the kinara are placed directly on the mkeka.
Vibunzi: Ear of Corn The stalk of corn represents fertility and symbolizes that through the reproduction of children, the future hopes of the family are brought to life. One ear is called vibunzi, and two or more ears are called mihindi. Each ear symbolizes a child in the family, and thus one ear is placed on the mkeka for each child in the family.
If there are no children in the home, two ears are still set on the mkeka because each person is responsible for the children of the community.
During Kwanzaa, we take the love and nurturance that was heaped on us as children and selflessly return it to all children, especially the helpless, homeless, loveless ones in our community. Good habits of respect for self and others, discipline, positive thinking, expectations, compassion, empathy, charity, and self-direction are learned in childhood from parents, from peers, and from experiences. Children are essential to Kwanzaa, for they are the future, the seed bearers that will carry cultural values and practices into the next generation.
For this reason, children were cared for communally and individually within a tribal village. The biological family was ultimately responsible for raising its own children, but every person in the village was responsible for the safety and welfare of all the children.
The celebration of fire through candle burning is not limited to one particular group or country; it occurs everywhere. Mishumaa saba are the seven candles: three red, three green, and one black. If you really want to experience the USA, consider applying to an American internship to see the country while simultaneously furthering your career!
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Read about the adventures others have had and get excited for yours. The History, Principles, and Symbols of Kwanzaa. A woman celebrates Kwanzaa by lighting candles on a kinara. InterExchange Staff InterExchange is proud to have an experienced team that is dedicated to international cultural exchange.
Tweet Share Email. Diversity Holidays Culture. Intern or Train in the U. Experience American culture and add international skills to your resume. Learn about life abroad Read about the adventures others have had and get excited for yours.
Three Ways for U. Citizens to Work and Travel in Canada. How to Be an Au Pair in Spain. How to Be an Au Pair in Australia. How to Be an Au Pair in the Netherlands. The seven principles of Kwanzaa, as determined by Karenga, are umoja unity , kujichagulia self-determination , ujima collective work and responsibility , ujamaa cooperative economics , nia purpose , kuumba creativity and imani faith. Kwanzaa also has seven symbols—mazao crops , mkeka mat , kinara candleholder , muhindi corn , kikombe cha umoja unity cup , zawadi gifts and mishumaa saba seven candles —that are traditionally arranged on a table.
Three of the seven candles are red, representing the struggle; three of the candles are green, representing the land and hope for the future; and one of the candles is Black, representing people of African descent. Some families who celebrate Kwanzaa dress up or decorate their homes in those colors. Homemade and educational gifts are encouraged. In order to avoid over-commercialization, gifts handed out to family members on the last day of Kwanzaa are often homemade. Alternatively, some participants buy books, music, art accessories or other culturally themed products, preferably from a Black-owned business.
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