The Continental African Roots
Kwanzaa is an African American and Pan-African holiday which celebrates family, community and culture. Celebrated from 26 December thru 1 January, its origins are in the first harvest celebrations of Africa from which it takes its name. The name Kwanzaa is derived from the phrase "matunda ya kwanza" which means "first fruits" in Swahili, a Pan-African language which is the most widely spoken African language.
The first-fruits celebrations are recorded in African history as far back as ancient Egypt and Nubia and appear in ancient and modern times in other classical African civilizations such as Ashantiland and Yorubaland. These celebrations are also found in ancient and modern times among societies as large as empires (the Zulu or kingdoms (Swaziland) or smaller societies and groups like the Matabele, Thonga and Lovedu, all of southeastern Africa.
Kwanzaa builds on the five fundamental activities
of Continental African "first fruit" celebrations: ingathering;
reverence; commemoration; recommitment; and celebration.
Kwanzaa, then, is:
The African American Branch
Rooted in this ancient history and culture, Kwanzaa develops as a
flourishing branch of the African American life and struggle as a recreated and
expanded ancient tradition. Thus, it bears special characteristics only an
African American holiday but also a Pan-African one, For it draws from the
cultures of various African peoples, and is celebrated by millions of Africans
throughout the world African community. Moreover, these various African peoples
celebrate Kwanzaa because it speaks not only to African Americans in a special
way, but also to Africans as a whole, in its stress on history, values, family,
community and culture.
Kwanzaa was established in 1966 in the midst of the Black Freedom Movement and thus reflects its concern for cultural groundedness in thought and practice, and the unity and self-determination associated with this. It was conceived and established to serve several functions.
Reaffirming and Restoring
Culture
First, Kwanzaa was created to reaffirm and restore our rootedness in African
culture. It is, therefore, an expression of recovery and reconstruction of
African culture which was being conducted in the general context of the Black
Liberation Movement of the '60's and in the specific context of The Organization
Us, the founding organization of Kwanzaa and the authoritative keeper of its
tradition.
Secondly, Kwanzaa was created to serve as a regular communal celebration to reaffirm and reinforce the bonds between us as a people. It was designed to be an ingathering to strengthen community and reaffirm common identity, purpose and direction as a people and a world community.
Thirdly, Kwanzaa was created to introduce and reinforce the Nguzo Saba (the Seven Principles.) These seven communitarian African values are: Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (Self-Determination), Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility), Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics), Nia (Purpose), Kuumba (Creativity), and Imani (Faith). This stress on the Nguzo Saba was at the same time an emphasis on the importance of African communitarian values in general, which stress family, community and culture and speak to the best of what it means to be African and human in the fullest sense. And Kwanzaa was conceived as a fundamental and important way to introduce and reinforce these values and cultivate appreciation for them.
Kwanzaa was created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, professor and chair of the Department of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach, author and scholar-activist who stresses the indispensable need to preserve, continually revitalize and promote African American culture.Finally, it is important to note Kwanzaa is a cultural holiday, not a religious one, thus available to and practiced by Africans of all religious faiths who come together based on the rich, ancient and varied common ground of their Africanness.