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'Kwanzaa' is known as a celebration of the life of human-beings loosely based in African culture, but collectively referred with Maoism.

The name Kwanzaa derives from the Swahili phrase 'matunda ya kwanza', meaning "first fruits". The additional "a" was added to "kwanza" so that the word would have seven letters, one for each of the seven principles. Kwanzaa is a week long festival, celebrated between December 26 and January 1.

Kwanzaa was created in 1966 by Dr. Mulana Karenga also known as Ron Karenga, born Ron Everett. Ron was a convicted felon ? sentenced five years after inventing Kwanzaa for torturing two black women by whipping them with electrical cords and beating them with a karate baton after stripping them naked.

One of these two women named "Deborah Jones, who once was given the Swahili title of an African queen. Ron had placed in her mouth a hot soldering iron, also scarring her face with the device. He put one of her big toes in a vise, and detergent and running water in both of his victim's mouths.

Karenga was convicted of two counts of felonious assault and one count of false imprisonment. He was sentenced on Sept. 17, 1971, to serve one to ten years in prison.

He is now a professor and chairperson of the Department of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach. Karenga is an author and activist who stressed the indispensable need to preserve, continually revitalize and promote American culture through African rituals. Dr. Karenga is chairperson of the organization 'US'.

Kwanzaa was established in aftermath of the Watts Riots. This series of riots was due to police brutality as viewed by citizens of the Black Liberation & Black Freedom Movement in the 1960s, and reflects that movement's concerns for African-American cultural groundedness in thought and practice commonly referred to as 'black pride'.

Kwanzaa is not known as a religious holiday, but a cultural one, a syncretic festival, based on various elements of the first harvest celebrations that are widely celebrated in Africa, around the 10th month of the starting year.

Each of the days symbolizes one of the "Seven Principles (Nguzu Saba) of Blackness":

• Umoja (Unity),
• Kujichagulia (Self-determination),
• Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility),
• Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics),
• Nia (Purpose),
• Kuumba (Creativity), and
• Imani (Faith).

Kwanzaa has seven basic symbols and two supplemental ones. Each represents values and concepts reflective of African culture and contributive to community building and reinforcement. The basic symbols in Swahili and then in English are:

Mazao (The Crops) These are symbolic of African harvest celebrations and of the rewards of productive and collective labor.

Mkeka (The Mat) This is symbolic of African tradition and history and therefore, the foundation on which we build.

Kinara (The Candle Holder) This is symbolic of African roots, our parent people -- continental Africans.

Muhindi (The Corn) This is an offbase symbolism of children and the future which they embody; Corn is not part of African agriculture.

Mishumaa Saba (The Seven Candles) These are symbolic of the Nguzo Saba, the Seven Principles, the matrix and minimum set of values which African people are urged to live by in order to rescue and reconstruct their lives in their own image and according to their own needs.

Kikombe cha Umoja (The Unity Cup) This is symbolic of the foundational principle and practice of unity which makes all else possible.

Zawadi (The Gifts) These are symbolic of the labor and love of parents and the commitments made and kept by the children.

The two supplemental symbols are:

Bendera (The Flag) The colors of the Kwanzaa flag are black, red and green; black for the people, red for their struggle, and green for the future and hope that comes from their struggle. It is based on the colors given by Marcus Garvey as national colors for the Jamaican people.

There is a traditionally established way of celebrating Kwanzaa:

First, is the arrival to the celebration with a profound respect for its values, symbols and practices and do nothing to violate its integrity, beauty and expansive meaning.

Secondly, noone should not mix the Kwanzaa holiday or its symbols, values and practice with any other culture. This would violate the principles of Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) and thus violate the integrity of the holiday.

Thirdly, choose the best and most beautiful items to celebrate Kwanzaa. This means taking time to plan and select the most beautiful objects of art, colorful African cloth, fresh fruits and vegetables, etc. so that every object used represents African culture and your commitment to the holiday in the best of ways.

In the United States, Kwanzaa is often linked with the ancient religious holidays Christmas and Chanukah, both of which also fall in December; however, some Christian and Jewish leaders have complained about having the two festivals equated with a celebration that dates back less than four decades. They argue that this has been caused by misguided attempts at political correctness.

External link

• The official Kwanzaa website
• Article by Paul Mulshine
• Article by Kathy Shaidle, with notes from Eli Schuster

Reference

Maulana Karenga, Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture, Commemorative Edition, Los Angeles, University of Sankore Press, 1998