Kwanzaa (/ˈkwɑːnzə/) is an annual celebration ofAfrican-American culture from December 26 to January 1, culminating in a communal feast calledKaramu, usually on the sixth day.[1] It was created by activistMaulana Karenga based on Karenga's research of African harvest festival traditions from various parts ofWest,East, andSoutheast Africa. Kwanzaa was first celebrated in 1966. A 2009 estimate placed the number of Americans who celebrate Kwanzaa between 500,000 and 2,000,000.[2]
Americanblack separatist[3]Maulana Karenga created Kwanzaa in 1966 during the aftermath of theWatts riots[4] as a non-Christian,[5] specifically African-Americanholiday.[6] Karenga said his goal was to "giveblack people an alternative to the existing holiday ofChristmas and give black people an opportunity to celebrate themselves and their history, rather than simply imitate the practice of the dominant society."[7] For Karenga, a figure in theBlack Power movement of the 1960s and 1970s, the creation of such holidays also underscored the essential premise that "you must have a cultural revolution before the violent revolution. The cultural revolution gives identity, purpose, and direction."[8]: 63–65
According to Karenga, the name Kwanzaa derives from theSwahili phrasematunda ya kwanza, meaning "first fruits".[9]First fruits festivals exist in Southern Africa and are celebrated in December/January with thesouthern solstice. Karenga was partly inspired by an account he read of theZulu festivalUmkhosi Wokweshwama.[8]: 84 It was decided to spell the holiday's name with an additional "a" so that it would have a symbolic seven letters.[8]: 228
During the early years of Kwanzaa, Karenga said it was meant to be an alternative toChristmas. He believedJesus was psychotic andChristianity was a "White" religion that Black people should shun.[10] As Kwanzaa gained mainstream adherents, Karenga altered his position so practicingChristians would not be alienated, stating in the 1997 bookKwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community, and Culture that "Kwanzaa was not created to give people an alternative to their own religion or religious holiday."[11] Many African Americans who celebrate Kwanzaa do so in addition to observing Christmas.[12]
After its creation inCalifornia, Kwanzaa spread outside the United States to other parts of theAfrican diaspora,[13] but does not appear to be directly observed in any African countries.[14]
A display of Kwanzaa symbols with fruit and vegetables
Kwanzaa celebrates what its founder called the seven principles of Kwanzaa, orNguzo Saba (originallyNguzu Saba – the seven principles of African Heritage). They were developed in 1965, a year before Kwanzaa itself. These seven principles are allSwahili words, and together comprise theKawaida or "common" philosophy, a synthesis of nationalist, pan-Africanist, and socialist values.
Each of the seven days of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of the principles, as follows:[15]
Umoja (Unity): To strive for and to maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race.
Kujichagulia (Self-determination): To define and name ourselves, as well as to create and speak for ourselves.
Ujima (Collective work and responsibility): To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers' and sisters' problems our problems and to solve them together.
Ujamaa (Cooperative economics): To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together.
Nia (Purpose): To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
Kuumba (Creativity): 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.
Imani (Faith): To believe with all our hearts in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.
Mahindi (corn), to represent the children celebrating (and corn may be part of the holiday meal).[17]
aKikombe cha Umoja (unity cup) for commemorating and givingshukrani (thanks) to African Ancestors
Zawadi (gifts).
Supplemental representations include a Nguzo Saba poster,[18] theblack, red, and greenbendera (flag), and African books and artworks—all to represent values and concepts reflective of African culture and contribution to community building and reinforcement.[19]
A woman lighting candles for Kwanzaa. The black candle in the middle represents unity, the three green candles on the right represent earth, and the three red candles on the left represent the struggle of African Americans or the shedding of blood.[20]
Families celebrating Kwanzaa decorate their households with objects of art, colorful African cloth such askente, especially the wearing ofkaftans by women, and fresh fruits representing African idealism. It is customary to include children in Kwanzaa ceremonies and to give respect and gratitude to ancestors.Libations are shared, generally with a common chalice (Kikombe cha Umoja) passed around to all celebrants. Non-African Americans also celebrate Kwanzaa.[2] "Joyous Kwanzaa" may be used as a greeting during the holiday.[21][22][23]
A Kwanzaa ceremony may include drumming and musical selections, libations, a reading of the "African Pledge and the Principles of Blackness," contemplation on thePan-African colors, discussion of the African principle of the day or a chapter of African history, a candle-lighting ritual, artistic performances, and, finally, a feast of faith known asKaramu Ya Imani.[24][25] The greeting for each day of Kwanzaa isHabari Gani?,[26] which is Swahili for "How are you?"[27]
At first, observers of Kwanzaa avoided the mixing of the holiday or its symbols, values, and practice with other holidays, as doing so would violate the principle ofkujichagulia (self-determination) and thus violate the integrity of the holiday, which is partially intended as a reclamation of important African values. Today, some African American families celebrate Kwanzaa along withChristmas and theNew Year.[28]
AKaramu Ya Imani (Feast of Faith) is a feast typically on December 31, the sixth day of the Kwanzaa period. The Karamu feast was developed inChicago during a 1971 citywide movement ofPan-African organizations. Hannibal Afrik of Shule ya Watoto proposed it as a community-wide promotional and educational campaign. The initialKaramu Ya Imani occurred on January 1, 1973, at a 200-person gathering at the Ridgeland club.[32]
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A 2003 Kwanzaa celebration with Kwanzaa founderMaulana Karenga at the center, and others
The popularity of the celebration of Kwanzaa has declined since the 90s.[34] Kwanzaa observation has declined in both community and commercial contexts.[35][36]University of Minnesota ProfessorKeith Mayes did not report exact figures, noting that it is also difficult to determine these for the three other main African-American holidays, which he names asMartin Luther King Jr. Day,Malcolm X Day, andJuneteenth.[8]: 210, 274 Mayes added thatwhite institutions now also celebrate it.[2] Certain communities of theNation of Islam, an African AmericanIslamic group, celebrate Kwanzaa.[37]
In a 2019National Retail Federation poll, 2.6 percent of people who planned to celebrate a winter holiday said they would celebrate Kwanzaa.[38] Roughly 14% of the United States population isAfrican American.
Starting in the 1990s, the holiday became increasingly commercialized, with the firstHallmark card being sold in 1992.[39] Some have expressed concern about this potentially damaging the holiday's values.[40]
In the special episode of the animated seriesArthur,Arthur's Perfect Christmas, (2000) Brain's family celebrated Kwanzaa as a family, and added a Kwanzaa Ice Cream Special (red, black, and green ice cream) to their ice cream shop menu.[48]
In Canada it is celebrated in provinces includingSaskatchewan andOntario.[51] Kwanzaa week was first declared inToronto in 2018.[50] There are local chapters that emerged in the 2010s in provinces likeBritish Columbia, where there are much smaller groups of the diaspora, founding members may be immigrants from countries likeUganda.[56]
^"Kwanzaa – African-American Holiday".Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc.Archived from the original on January 5, 2021. RetrievedJanuary 6, 2020.Although Kwanzaa is primarily an African American holiday, it has also come to be celebrated outside the United States, particularly in the Caribbean and other countries where there are large numbers of descendants of Africans.
^Carrillo, Karen Juanita (December 21, 2023)."Kwanzaa is growing in popularity".New York Amsterdam News.Archived from the original on January 7, 2026. RetrievedDecember 29, 2025.
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