Early Habari Gani to my lovely African American followers! [this post is a day early] I hope each day brings you the best wishes and a joyful and prosperous new year! As a celebrant of Kwanzaa, id love to teach you guys about it too!
★﹒┊How did Kwanzaa form? ⁔⁔
In 1965, a white police officer pulled over two African American men in Watts, Los Angeles, sparking protest from the community. The crowd grew, leading to six days of rioting and violence, resulting in 34 deaths and over a thousand injuries, now known as the Watts Rebellion.
Educator and activist Maulanga Karenga wanted to rebuild neighborhoods affected by the Watts Rebellion and encourage pride amongst the people instead! As part of his plan, he created Kwanzaa in 1966 to empower African Americans to rediscover and honor their African roots. It is assumed that kwanzaa was celebrated on the African continent but to a lesser degree
★﹒┊What does Kwanzaa mean? ⁔⁔
Kwanzaa, meaning "first fruits" in Swahili, celebrates the harvest season, and promotes honoring the 7 principles: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith.
★﹒┊How is it celebrated? ⁔⁔
During Kwanzaa, African heritage symbols are displayed in homes, starting with a mkeka (muh-KAY-kuh)
, a traditional woven mat representing traditions like sharing and faith. The mat features meaningful items like a basket filled with fruits and vegetables to represent harvest, corn for each child within your family, and a unity cup called kikombe cha umoja (kee-KOHM-bee cha oo-MOH-jah).
A big part of celebrating Kwanzaa is marked by the lighting of a new candle each night. An adult pours water or juice from the unity cup onto the ground [to remember family ancestors], which is then passed to each family member while they chant harambee (Swahili for "let’s pull together" and pronounced hah-RAHM-beh) seven times while they sip from the cup. The kinara (kee-NAH-ruh) holds seven candles: one black, three red, and three green, representing unity, the past, and the future. Celebrants light a special candle each day, reflecting on the other six principles of Kwanzaa, and on the first night, celebrants light the black unity candle.
Throughout the days of Kwanzaa, there are many celebratory dishes that can be made! Often times, the dishes are made from recipes that have been passed down from generation to generation which regularly are rooted in african culture like peanut soup or shrimp gumbo, topped off with tasty desserts like fried bananas, sweet potato pie, and coconut sweets.
The big celebration is on December 31, when family and friends gather for a feast called karamu (kuh-RAH-moo), where we play music, dance, and singing. The last day is quieter, with people focusing on their future success and personal growth.
Before finishing up, i would like to give you guys some Kwanzaa themed worksheets !
18+ blogs // DD!LG, AB!DL and variants [even "SFW"] // 27 and older // DNI
Fact OTD:
Kwanzaa has spread from the U.S. to other areas of the world, and is celebrated among African-Canadians, for example.
