By: Jeremiah Holloway (’22), Managing Editor
For some of us, we might passively notice it on our calendars every year. For others, we celebrate it annually with great fervor. Some of us may not know much about it or even have any idea what it is.
Began by Dr. Maulana Karenga in 1966, Kwanzaa was established in America as a way for Black people to remember where we originally came from. Though the holiday is of African-American origin, it is intended for all within the African diaspora as a communal celebration of African pride. Kwanzaa not only gives us a holiday to ourselves, but an entire week to come together and celebrate Blackness.
What I am presenting to you now is not a research article on Kwanzaa, but rather a push to acknowledge its uniqueness and necessity to our culture.
What is the purpose of a holiday? Is it not a time to come together and celebrate? To practice customs and carry out traditions? Kwanzaa is no different.
There are a myriad of different traditions practiced during Kwanzaa, from the lighting of the candles (which symbolizes the people, struggle, and future of the African diaspora) to the giving of gifts (to promote success and growth). The complexities of the symbolism involved with the holiday show the uniformity that Dr. Karenga was looking to establish when he came up with the idea.
As it is not a religious holiday or specific to any one country, Black people of all faiths and backgrounds can celebrate it together. The values that Kwanzaa upholds, as seen in the Nguzo Saba, are transferable to all people and worth practicing on a daily basis. In English, the seven principles across the seven days of Kwanzaa are unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith.
All of these practices should be exercised amongst each other frequently. Giving these principles a week to be highlighted brings attention to the celebration of Kwanzaa as a whole.
Despite beauty in the idea of the holiday, Kwanzaa does not have the popularity as one would expect. With such a high emphasis on Black excellence and comradery, Kwanzaa should hold a higher level of relevance within our culture. Its timing can be attributed to its lack of recognition, as the dates fall between Christmas and New Years’. Still, Kwanzaa can certainly be honored in addition to the other holidays in December.
Black solidarity is something that gets preached often, especially in a year like 2020 in which injustice is on display everyday. Oppression and struggle has brought Black people together for centuries. Though persecution is not desired, it gives us even more of a reason to uplift each other and move forward in strength.
Certainly, there are other times in the year that are set aside and recognized as our own holidays. Black History Month is honored yearly to dive into many prominent moments and figures in African-American history. More recently, Juneteenth has become a popular, more recognized Black holiday that many people did not know about. We’ve even created a holiday out of thin air on social media.
Though I am a novice to Kwanzaa, I’ve found it to be a special time of the year that is very much worth our attention.
Helpful Resources:
- The Black Candle documentary
- https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/kwanzaa-history
- https://www.oprahmag.com/life/a34894511/kwanzaa-traditions/
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/therootdc/post/confessions-of-a-kwanzaa-dropout-why-i-dont-celebrate-the-holiday/2012/12/12/f60ffd78-447e-11e2-8061-253bccfc7532_blog.html
- https://web.archive.org/web/20191231203612/http://officialkwanzaawebsite.org/NguzoSaba.shtml
