Kwanzaa

Dr. Maulana Karenga, a college professor in California, invented Kwanzaa in the 1960′s. He taught black history and he was a Civil Rights activist, and he wanted to introduce a celebration of African American heritage during a rough time when many African Americans were struggling for equal rights. He chose a name, Kwanza, which comes from the Swahili phrase “matunda ya kwanza,” or first fruits. He also picked this phrase because many people in Eastern African countries speak Swahili.

Dr. Karenga wanted Kwanzaa to be a seven-day celebration, like many other harvest celebrations in Africa. He chose the seven days between Christmas and New Year’s because there were so many other celebrations at that time anyway.

Setup of the Kwanzaa table is also important. There are several standard things that a Kwanzaa table should have. The ears of corn, or Muhindi, are used to represent the children in the home; if a family has three children, you would use three ears of corn. If there were four kids in your house, you’d use four ears of corn. How many would you use if there were no kids in the house? Zero? Nope! You would use one ear of corn, which would represent all children everywhere.

The gifts, or zawadi, are special, too. There are usually two gifts given at Kwanzaa: one is usually a book about African or African American history to encourage children to learn more about their heritage. The other can vary; most of the time it is a home-made gift.