Seven Principles of Kwanzaa Celebration

What are the seven principles of Kwanzaa?

The seven principles of Kwanzaa are Unity, Self-Determination, Collective Work and Responsibility, Cooperative Economics, Purpose, Creativity, and Faith.

Kwanzaa is a cultural holiday that celebrates African heritage and is observed from December 26 to January 1. The festival was created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga to provide African Americans an alternative to the existing holidays and promote unity within the community.

The seven principles, known as Nguzo Saba, are the values that guide the week-long celebration of Kwanzaa. Each principle represents a different aspect of building a strong and unified community.

1. Unity (Umoja): To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race. 2. Self-Determination (Kujichagulia): To define and name ourselves, as well as create and speak for ourselves. 3. Collective Work and Responsibility (Ujima): To build and maintain our community together and make our brother's and sister's problems our problems and solve them together. 4. Cooperative Economics (Ujamaa): To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and profit from them together. 5. Purpose (Nia): To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community to restore our people to their traditional greatness. 6. Creativity (Kuumba): 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. 7. Faith (Imani): To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

These principles serve as a reminder of the importance of unity, self-determination, collective responsibility, and supporting one another within the African American community.