Do You Celebrate Kwanzaa?

The word Kwanzaa means "first fruits of the harvest."

Kwanzaa is a celebration to reaffirm the ancestors and culture of African Americans, in addition to celebrating the fruits of our labor from the year. It has neither political or religious origins. Kwanzaa takes place from December 26 until January 1 and "focuses on traditional African values of family, community responsibility, commerce and self-improvement." It is modeled after the African celebration of the harvest. Kwanzaa is also the first African American holiday.

Each day of the celebration you light a new candle and discuss one of the seven principles of Kwanzaa. Also, since Kwanzaa focuses on the community, it is to be celebrated with at least 2 others.

The 7 principles are:

• Umoja--unity in both family and community; 
• Kujichagulia--self-determination;
• Ujima--collective work and responsibility; 
• Ujamaa--cooperative economics; 
• Nia--purpose; 
• Kuumba--creativity;
• Imani--faith.

The amount of people celebrating Kwanzaa is disputed. Some say that about 1.6% of the population celebrate it, while others believe that a large amount of African Americans celebrate it. Our poll on FB shows that not many people celebrate it.

Do you celebrate Kwanzaa?

Sources:

http://www.ehow.com/how_6171_celebrate-kwanzaa.html
http://www.jstor.org/pss/1500280