Kwanzaa is often viewed as an African-American response to Christmas and Hanukkah, and in some ways it is. The celebration is based on seven principles for living, and these provide a balance to the rampant consumerism in this holiday season. Kwanzaa is also nonsectarian, rooted in cultural traditions and principles instead of religious faith. That makes it more inclusive than religious holidays.
The basis of Kwanzaa is a series of principles: umoja (unity), kujichagulia (self-determination), ujima (collective work and responsibility), ujamaa (cooperative economics), nia (purpose), kuumba (creativity), and imani (faith). One principle is celebrated and marked for each of the event's seven days. (It runs December 26 through January 1 each year.)
The principles might sound vague, but they're well-articulated. (See sidebar.) These precepts create a road map for economic self-sufficiency and community-building for the African-American community.
Shellie Moore Guy, the organizer of a community event on December 27, said that each day, family members will get together and light a candle in a kinara, or candle-holder, and discuss that day's principle. On the last day of Kwanzaa is a karamu, or feast.
On Saturday, Guy's Ebony Expressions will present its third annual Kwanzaa celebration at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in Rock Island. The event, running from 6 to 8 p.m., basically condenses all seven days of Kwanzaa rituals into a single celebration, with an arts focus. The event features discussions of all seven principles, plus performances by African drummer Myra Johnson, jazz vocalist Semenya McCord, blues artists Hal Reed & Marc Lacefield, singer Lois Allison, dancer Dorian Byrd, storyteller Guy, and gospel violinist John Powell. The program will conclude with a feast.
Kwanzaa, which was created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, has been celebrated locally for years in places such as churches and Augustana College, but those events were primarily designed for the institutions' members. "I really wanted to do a community event," said Guy. "I wanted to be able to present a Kwanzaa celebration at the Martin Luther King Center."
She stressed that the event is for people of all races and backgrounds, not just for African Americans. "It's a celebration of community unity," she said. "It's a social, community, and spiritual event. ... These principles are universal. These are principles everyone in the community can use."
Roughly 150 people attended the Kwanzaa events the past two years, Guy said. She noted that she'd eventually like to expand the event to several days. This year, she added, there's a new afternoon workshop in which children learn to make gifts, sing, and play bongos. "We don't have to spend a lot of money this holiday or any time," Guy said.
Of course, for Kwanzaa to be effective, its principles can't just be emphasized for seven days. "The challenge is for us to remember that these are principles to be practiced, to be internalized," Guy said. She added that she explicitly integrates the principles of Kwanzaa into her storytelling.
"We can all be caught up in the frenzy of commercialism," she said. Kwanzaa can be an aid to center participants: "It's just another way to remind us of our humanity," she added.
And the timing of the festival is helpful, too. "We all have the opportunity to start the new year with something other than the commercialism."
The Ebony Expressions Kwanzaa celebration will be held on Saturday, December 27, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center. Admission is $5 for adults, and $1 for children under 12. A children's event featuring gift-making and song and drum clinics will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. that day. For more information on either event, contact Shellie Moore Guy at (309)786-3732.
More information about Kwanzaa can be found at (http://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org).
The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa
Kwanzaa founder Maulana Karenga wrote these seven principles, with one celebrated and discussed each day, December 26 through January 1.
Umoja (Unity)
To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race.
Kujichagulia (Self-Determination)
To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves.
Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility)
To build and maintain our community together and make our brother's and sister's 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 heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.
The basis of Kwanzaa is a series of principles: umoja (unity), kujichagulia (self-determination), ujima (collective work and responsibility), ujamaa (cooperative economics), nia (purpose), kuumba (creativity), and imani (faith). One principle is celebrated and marked for each of the event's seven days. (It runs December 26 through January 1 each year.)
The principles might sound vague, but they're well-articulated. (See sidebar.) These precepts create a road map for economic self-sufficiency and community-building for the African-American community.
Shellie Moore Guy, the organizer of a community event on December 27, said that each day, family members will get together and light a candle in a kinara, or candle-holder, and discuss that day's principle. On the last day of Kwanzaa is a karamu, or feast.
On Saturday, Guy's Ebony Expressions will present its third annual Kwanzaa celebration at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in Rock Island. The event, running from 6 to 8 p.m., basically condenses all seven days of Kwanzaa rituals into a single celebration, with an arts focus. The event features discussions of all seven principles, plus performances by African drummer Myra Johnson, jazz vocalist Semenya McCord, blues artists Hal Reed & Marc Lacefield, singer Lois Allison, dancer Dorian Byrd, storyteller Guy, and gospel violinist John Powell. The program will conclude with a feast.
Kwanzaa, which was created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, has been celebrated locally for years in places such as churches and Augustana College, but those events were primarily designed for the institutions' members. "I really wanted to do a community event," said Guy. "I wanted to be able to present a Kwanzaa celebration at the Martin Luther King Center."
She stressed that the event is for people of all races and backgrounds, not just for African Americans. "It's a celebration of community unity," she said. "It's a social, community, and spiritual event. ... These principles are universal. These are principles everyone in the community can use."
Roughly 150 people attended the Kwanzaa events the past two years, Guy said. She noted that she'd eventually like to expand the event to several days. This year, she added, there's a new afternoon workshop in which children learn to make gifts, sing, and play bongos. "We don't have to spend a lot of money this holiday or any time," Guy said.
Of course, for Kwanzaa to be effective, its principles can't just be emphasized for seven days. "The challenge is for us to remember that these are principles to be practiced, to be internalized," Guy said. She added that she explicitly integrates the principles of Kwanzaa into her storytelling.
"We can all be caught up in the frenzy of commercialism," she said. Kwanzaa can be an aid to center participants: "It's just another way to remind us of our humanity," she added.
And the timing of the festival is helpful, too. "We all have the opportunity to start the new year with something other than the commercialism."
The Ebony Expressions Kwanzaa celebration will be held on Saturday, December 27, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Jr. Center. Admission is $5 for adults, and $1 for children under 12. A children's event featuring gift-making and song and drum clinics will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. that day. For more information on either event, contact Shellie Moore Guy at (309)786-3732.
More information about Kwanzaa can be found at (http://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org).
The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa
Kwanzaa founder Maulana Karenga wrote these seven principles, with one celebrated and discussed each day, December 26 through January 1.
Umoja (Unity)
To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race.
Kujichagulia (Self-Determination)
To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves.
Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility)
To build and maintain our community together and make our brother's and sister's 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 heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.
